Collections

The Joel Strack papers document Strack's involvement in the Central Florida LGBTQ+ community from the late 1980s to 2019. The collection contains programs and promotional material from the Orlando Gay Chorus, photos, newspaper clippings, planning documents, and other materials pertaining to LGBTQ+ activism in the Central Florida area, and personal items from Strack such as a jean jacket and letters. Joel Strack was born in Sycamore, Illinois on February 29, 1960. In 1982, he moved to Orlando to start at the Disney College program at Magic Kingdom. Strack worked in several areas at the Walt Disney World parks as an entertainer and a training and development specialists. His career at Disney World spanned about three decades. In 1990, Strack joined the Orlando Gay Chorus as a founding member. The following year, Strack helped to organize GayDays® at Disney World, an event where participants wear red shirts to theme parks to be visible amongst the crowds. Joel also held the role of Vice President for Gay Community Services (GCS), later known as Gay and Lesbian Community Services (GLCS). He later resigned from the role to focus attention into other projects to better serve the Gay and Lesbian Community. Joel played a role in founding of We the People, The Gay and Lesbian Coalition for Human Rights for All People. Joel passed from a longtime illness on July 15, 2019. In September 2021, Joel Strack was posthumously awarded the Orange County Regional History Center's John Young History Maker Past Award.

The John Grannan collection includes personal and professional papers, including institutional and financial records, publications, and graphic materials. The collection reflects Grannan's role as a local and national LGBTQ+ activist, as well as his tenures in associated organizations. Grannan served as an officer for USF's Gay Coalition, the Tampa AIDS Network, and the Florida Task Force/Florida Gay Task Force. Related material to his service is represented. Other areas of emphasis include LGBTQ+ sexual wellness resources and the papers of support and health organizations for the queer community during the AIDS crisis (at both the national and state level). Additional subjects covered include Pride events, social clubs and outings for the LGBTQ+ community, state and national legislation affecting the queer community, protests and activist groups, women's rights organizations, conferences, mental health and wellness resources, and LGBTQ+ friendly religious organizations.

This collection is comprised of research files, correspondence, news clippings, certificates, medical records, photographs, and a scrapbook that belonged to attorney and politician John L. Ducker, who was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1960-1968 and the Florida state Senate from 1968-1971. Items in the collection pertain to his personal activities, in addition to his longtime interest in politics, world and local events of the day, as well as legal affairs. John L. Ducker was one of the sponsors of the legislation establishing Florida Technological University (FTU) what is now University of Central Florida (UCF). The entire collection is open for research.

The John MacKay Shaw Collection consists of the Childhood in Poetry Collection and other materials he collected that relate to the six themes that are evident throughout the Collection: bibliography, biography, children, collecting, publishing, and writing. These other materials include articles, audiovisual materials, biographical materials, catalogs, correspondence, literary materials, notes, photographs, programs, and publications documenting his personal, business, and collecting activities.