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Regional Organizations Receive $450,000 from the Gittings Trust in Support of LGBTQ+ Resources and more
PHILADELPHIA, June 24, 2022—Philadelphia-area organizations announced today that they received nearly $450,000 from the Barbara Gittings Trust. Barbara Gittings (1932-2007) and Kay Lahusen (1930-2021) were life partners, celebrated activists, and pioneers in the area of LGBTQ+ rights whose work impacted not only the public, but numerous professional fields including library services throughout the nation. Decisions regarding the distribution of the estate were made jointly by Barbara and Kay in 2005 and have now been carried out by Trustee and Estate Executor Judith Armstrong following Kay’s passing last year.
Gittings and Lahusen were among the earliest LGBTQ+ activists and their work included demonstrating for the civil rights of the LGBTQ+ community at the State Department, the White House, and Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, beginning in the 1960s. Gittings’ work in the 1970s focused on the fight for inclusion of gay and lesbian materials in public library collections. Her advocacy also resulted in the decision of the American Psychiatric Association to drop homosexuality as a mental illness in 1972.
“It has been a great responsibility and privilege to serve as executor and trustee for my friends, Barbara and Kay. It means so much to be able to sustain their important legacy and impact in Philadelphia and beyond with these gifts. The organizations that Barbara and Kay committed to support in their estates held special meaning to them and to the LGBTQ+ community,” Armstrong said.
The total initial distribution from the trust nationally and locally came to $2 million. National organizations receiving bequests worked in the areas of LGBTQ+ rights, civil rights, and wildlife and conservation.
The following Philadelphia-area organizations received bequests from the trust, and will work to ensure that vision of equality and community are continually sought after in their work:
- The Attic Youth Center will use Trust finds to continue Barbara Gittings’ legacy by creating a new project in which Attic Youth will compile a history of youth voices in the LGBTQ+ Rights Movement. The project, which will launch in Fall 2022, will bring together Gittings’ love for LGBTQ+ youth with her love of history and library science. Attic Youth will have the opportunity to engage with the Barbara Gittings Collection at the Free Library of Philadelphia and the LGBTQ+ Archives at the William Way Center and see the issues LGBTQ+ Youth face today within a historical context. Attic Youth Center Founder, Carrie Jacobs, shared, “In 1994, Barbara and Kay came up to The Attic when we were still in the Attic in Voyage House. One of the reasons I persevered was because of Barbara. She inspired me and told me to never give up because the Attic and the youth needed it.” Gittings’ ongoing relationship with Carrie and The Attic youth continued to fuel their determination over the years. For more information, contact Jasper Liem.
- The Delaware Valley Legacy Fund (DVLF) will use the funds from the Trust help advance the mission of the Delaware Valley Legacy Fund to strengthen the LGBTQ+ community's organizations and to continue to serve as the leading funder of emerging needs of greater Philadelphia's LGBTQ+ communities. Barbara Gittings and Kay Tobin Lahusen were among the original founders of the Delaware Valley Legacy Fund (DVLF) and later joined its Advisory Council. The duo often encouraged folks to include LGBTQ+ charities in their wills and estate plans and cited their own example as a role model for others. DVLF supports critical organizations that help thousands of people each day. DVLF is often the first to provide grants to emerging nonprofits and is a core funder for anchor organizations that advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, serve LGBTQ+ youth and elders, ensure community health, and promote arts and culture. For more information, contact Karl Michelfelder, 215-668-8523.
- The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation intends to apply its funds from the Trust to help expand and support the Barbara Gittings Collection at the Free Library’s Independence Library (18 S. 7th Street). The Gittings Collection, established in 2002, is the largest LGBTQ+ public library collection east of San Francisco. Gittings’ relationship with the Free Library and library work was deep. Aside from founding the collection at Independence Library, she headed the Gay Task Force of the American Library Association (ALA) for 15 years and was awarded a lifetime membership in the organization. One of the ALA’s annual Stonewall Awards—Barbara Gittings Literature Award—is named in her honor. For more information, contact Kaitlyn Foti Kalosy, 215-460-2113.
- The William Way LGBT Community Center is the social and cultural home of the Philadelphia region’s LGBTQ+ communities – one that provides these communities with the platform they need to assure emotional support during times of vulnerability, encourage the cultural celebration and community connection that enable all to learn with and from one another, and serve as an incubator for movements and leaders who elevate and advance issues affecting these LGBTQIA+ communities. The Center’s archives are home to a significant collection of Gittings’ and Lahusen’s documents and memorabilia, and is honored to receive a bequest from them that will allow us to maintain and further disseminate these materials. For more information, contact Executive Director Chris Bartlett, 215-732-2220, ext. 101.
The Philadelphia Chorus were also regional recipients from the Trust. These organizations were all important to Gittings and Lahusen for their work in the LGBTQ+ community through education, assistance, and activism.
06/24/2022
Department of External Affairs, Free Library of Philadelphia, 1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-1189
(215) 567-7710, FAX (215) 567-7850