Professors honoured for work on history of LGBTQ community

WORCESTER, Mass. – Three professors at colleges in Worcester have been honoured for their work on a project documenting the history of the region’s LGBTQ community.

Robert Deam Tobin of Clark Univeristy, Stephanie Yuhl of the College of the Holy Cross and Joseph Cullon of Worcester Polytechnic Institute recently received a Key to the City, according to The Telegram & Gazette.

They helped curate an exhibit on the topic at the Worcester Historical Museum last year, and helped produce a 116-page catalogue of LGBTQ-related stories from across the county.

“I was really moved that the city leaders took the time to honour scholarly work in the humanities as important for preserving our identity as a city,” Tobin said in a statement. “They were able to see how this kind of work, documenting ‘marginalized and unrecognized communities’ like the LGBTQ+ community, helps create a more just society.”

The museum exhibit, called “LGBTQ+ Worcester — For the Record,” was one of many events last year commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, a watershed moment in the history of gay rights.