“Hurricane Fran” Comes To Portland
The University of Southern Maine is currently presenting a display of photographs and memorabilia on Frannie Peabody, who died last year at age 98 after earning national recognition for leadership in the fight against AIDS.
The exhibit, “Hurricane Fran,” is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays; 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Fridays; and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays, in USM’s Area Gallery of the Woodbury Campus Center, Bedford St., Portland. It is free and open to the public now through Monday, September 9. Call 780-4269.
Many of the items in this exhibition are reproductions from the Frances W. Peabody Papers, Gay and Lesbian Archives, Sampson Center, USM Library. The exhibit was organized by USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College and is sponsored by the Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine.
Best known in Maine and around the country for her leadership in the AIDS epidemic, Frannie Peabody’s life of service also had chapters in historic preservation, child welfare and gay rights. Her work ranged from helping to found The AIDS Project and Peabody House in Portland, to criss-crossing the country as part of a national effort to create a new accreditation agency for museum houses with the National Society of Colonial Dames.
In the early 1970s, she was a trailblazer in historic preservation in Maine, helping to start Greater Portland Landmarks and restoring Tate House.
Frannie served on the board of Sweetser Children’s Services, and helped write its history. She spoke out for gay rights, testifying before legislative committees and serving as the Grand Marshall of the annual Southern Maine Pride Parade, sporting her
signature pink boa. She was a proud graduate of Smith College, returning for reunions through her 75th and serving as class president until the day she died.
Equal to the work for which she received public attention are the
countless acts of selfless service Frannie carried out quietly, often anonymously. Whether paying for the legal expenses of a young man who had been gay-bashed, making daily visits to a person dying with AIDS, or financing the publication of the first known history of an AIDS service organization, Frannie’s work was marked by courage, conviction, and compassion.
>more news releases
|
