Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rainbow History Project Oral History Collection Description An account of the resource Eye-witness accounts of what we’ve seen and experienced provide a valuable resource to researchers and future generations to understand our past and how we arrived where we are today. Each interview in this collection has a narrator telling the story and a documenter guiding the process. Collected since the founding of the RHP, this collection is growing and is open to researchers. All interviews have been digitized and are described in the catalog; only some of them have transcripts available. None of the interviews stream online. To obtain access to an interview, you must request by contacting us directly, providing a brief description of your project and your research interests. Our email address is: info AT rainbowhistory DOT org One of our team will share the file from our Google Drive, and you can listen from home. Please be sure to have "Music Player for Google Drive" enabled on your machine to play the recording. www.driveplayer.com Table Of Contents A list of subunits of the resource. To see all interviews in the collection, click on "Items in the Rainbow History Project Oral History Collection" link below. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Rainbow History Project Various narrators per oral history Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview. Edward Benfield Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed. Richard Davis Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound. No. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral history interview with Richard Davis, 1948-- Description An account of the resource <strong>Interested in listening to this audio?</strong> <br />Email <a href="mailto:oralhistories@rainbowhistory.org">oralhistories@rainbowhistory.org</a> for access Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 10/29/2015 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The interview belongs to the Rainbow History Project. The RHP release was used and all rights belong to RHP. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1970s to present. Richard Allen Davis was born in St. Paul Minnesota in 1948 and was raised in what he describes as a “nominally Methodist” family in the Twin Cities area. Davis accepted that he was a gay man in 1973 while he was attending law school at the University of Minnesota. By the summer of 1973 was publicly “out”. After completing law school Davis volunteered with Minnesota gay rights activist Stephen Endean and was active in the campaign to support a 1978 ordinance prohibiting discrimination against gays and lesbians in St. Paul. When the voters of St. Paul that ordinance in a referendum Endean became convinced that state level progress was no longer possible in Minnesota. Endean moved to DC to become the Director of the Gay Rights National Lobby (GRNL), hiring Davis to work for him as the head of Right to Privacy Foundation - an organization tasked with performing research and analysis in support of the Gay Rights National Lobby’s efforts. Steve Endean was forced out of the Directorship in 1983, and Davis left the Right to Privacy Foundation shortly afterward. He remained in Washington DC, working for the Library of Congress’ Congressional Research Service until his retirement in 2010. Davis was introduced to DC gay community by Endean, who had formed many connections with the community through his work as an activist. Davis quickly became an active participant in the community socially. Davis has been a member of several Washington-area gay social organizations, including The Washington Bridge (an Asian/Non-Asian gay men’s social club that later became Asians and Friends Washington) from 1983 to 1992, and DC Lambda Squares (a gay and lesbian Contra Dancing/ Country and Western Line Dancing group) from the late 1980s until 1999. Davis has also been an active member of Bet Mishpachah (an LGBT Synagogue in the Dupont Circle area) and All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Mount Pleasant. Davis was involved in competitive swimming from 1970 to 1999, starting in his junior year of college. After moving to Washington DC he joined the DC Aquatics Club (DCAC), an all gay US Masters Swimming team that competed in local and national events. With the DCAC, Davis competed in the Gay Games in 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998 winning two medals: a bronze medal in the 100 Yard Mixed Medley Relay in 1982 and a gold medal in the Individual 200 Yard Breaststroke in 1986. In 2007 Davis auditioned for and was accepted as a member of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington DC. He remains a part of the organization to this day. Davis relates a number of remembrances from his time in these groups, especially his experiences competing in the Gay Games where he met and befriended swimmer Jay Frisette who went on to be elected to the Arlington County Council. Davis shares his memories of gay bars and social centers in Washington DC in the 80s and 90s, including the Lambda Rising bookstore, Annie’s Paramount Steakhouse, The Lost and Found, Tracks, The Fraternity House (later Omega), and the Chesapeake House. Other topics discussed include the anxiety of the early days of the AIDS epidemic and how it affected every part of the gay community of the time and the ways that he believes the LGBT community of Washington DC has changed since the 1980s. Subject The topic of the resource Oral history with Richard Davis, who shares his remembrances from over thirty years of active participation in the Washington DC LGBT community, including his work with the Gay Rights National Lobby and the Right to Privacy Foundation, competing as a swimmer in five consecutive Gay Games, and singing in the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington DC. 1970s 1980s 1990s Activism Advocacy groups Dances Gay Games Law Nightlife The Fraternity House