Behind the Masks

“Behind the Masks” explores LGBT life at Oberlin College from the 1920s to the early 1970s. The narrative is based on materials from the Oberlin College Archives, student publications, secondary sources, and over seventy oral histories conducted with alumni, faculty, and staff.

I offer this narrative as a work in progress. You can help enrich and shape the final monograph, likely a book, by recording related experiences in the comment boxes found after each sub-section or in the Share Your Story section. Women and people of color are particularly encouraged to post their experiences. You may also contact me with stories or feedback.

The entire narrative, in PDF form, can be downloaded here. (495 KB)

Joey Plaster (OC 00)
May 2006





  • Search:

  • Introduction

  • The Interwar Period:

    Shifting Boundaries

  • WWII Veterans:

    "A Whole Gay World Had Come Out"

  • Professor Frederick Artz and the Cultural Stance of the "Queer"

  • 1950s/early 1960s:

    Homosexuals as Mentally Ill and Homosexuals as "Musical"

  • 1960s:

    Civil Rights, Social Rules, and the Sexual Revolution

  • Early/Mid 1970s:

    Gay Liberation, the Women's Movement, Black Power, and the Left

  • Epilogue

  • Contact

    Send feedback and find out how you can participate

  • Support

    Learn how you can help maintain this web resource

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