Published: Oct. 9, 2017

Over the summer, Gregg Drinkwater, a doctoral candidate in history and JewishÌýstudies, conducted dissertation research at archives in Cincinnati, New York City, LosÌýAngeles, and San Francisco. Drinkwater is writing a dissertation exploring the socialÌýand cultural history of the encounters between American Judaism and homosexualityÌýin the post-World War II era. As the first scholar to undertake such research broadly, his workÌýwill help explain how the American Jewish community and gay and lesbian JewsÌýnavigated the tension between Judaism’s traditional regulation of gender andÌýsexuality, and the increasingly visible role for gay and lesbian people in AmericanÌýsociety from the 1960s through the early 1990s. During this era, American JudaismÌýshifted from regarding homosexuality as a taboo topic, to a period notable for itsÌýproliferation of gay Jewish institutions, visible gay and lesbian clergy, and widespreadÌýJewish support for LGBT civil rights.

Drinkwater’sÌýresearch in LA at the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives wasÌýsupported by a Barry and Sue Baer Graduate Fellowship from the Program in Jewish Studies. InÌýCincinnati, DrinkwaterÌýwas the 2016-2017ÌýHerbert R. BlochÌýJr. Memorial Fellow atÌýThe Jacob RaderÌýMarcusÌýCenter of the American Jewish Archives. A Beverly Sears Graduate Student ResearchÌýGrant helped support his research in NYC at the American Jewish Historical Society,Ìýthe New York Public Library, the LGBT Community Center National History Archive,Ìýand the Lesbian Herstory Archives. And the ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder History DepartmentÌýsupported his work in San Francisco at the GLBT Historical Society and in theÌýarchives of Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, an LGBT-outreach synagogue founded inÌý1977. Ìý