Search

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 T. Washington collection, 1957-1980, documents UCF professor John T. Washington's life outside of his affiliation with UCF and his legacy. It chiefly consists of church sermons and materials, photographs, programs, minutes, agendas, and awards relating to John T. Washington's community service and role as a pastor as well as the scholarship award and honor society established in his name after his death. The collection provides insight into John T. Washington's life as the founder and pastor of the First Church of Peace and the efforts to maintain his legacy after his death with the John T. Washington Community Service Awards and Scholarship and the John T. Washington Honor Society. John Thomas Washington was born in 1940 in Immokalee, Florida. He was an associate professor of sociology at the University of Central Florida (UCF) and one of UCF's first Black faculty members. Washington worked to promote diversity at UCF, serving as one of the first advisors for the Black Student Union as well as other student organizations. He also aided in developing UCF's Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action and the Office of Multicultural Academic and Support Services. Before his time at UCF, Washington served as an airman in the United States Air Force from 1962-1964. He went on to earn his bachelor's and master's degrees at Rollins College and his Ph.D. at the University of Florida. In addition to his work at UCF, Washington founded the First Church of Peace in Orlando and served as the church's pastor. Washington died in 1983 at the age of 42 from a sudden heart attack. Following his death, the Student Services Building was renamed the John T. Washington Center in 1984. The John T. Washington Community Service Awards & Scholarship were also founded in his honor. In 1996, the John T. Washington Honor Society was established to uphold Washington's values of public service.