Darius Bost, Ph.D.
Advisor
Darius Bost is an Assistant Professor of Sexuality Studies and Assistant Director of the Center for Research and Education on Gender and Sexuality at San Francisco State University. His research focuses in the areas of African Diasporic literatures and cultures, LGBT and queer studies, trauma studies, urban studies, and critical HIV/AIDS studies. His current book project, tentatively titled, Evidence of Being: The Black Gay Cultural Renaissance and the Politics of Violence, is an interdisciplinary study of black gay cultural movements in Washington, D.C., and New York City during the early era of the AIDS epidemic. Bost comes to SFSU from the University of Maryland-College Park, where he earned his Ph.D. in American Studies.
Judi Eichler / Judi Eichler Design Studio
Graphic Designer
Judi is a graphic designer, jewelry and textile artist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. For over 25 years, she has designed for some of the leaders in high tech like Hewlett-Packard Company and Intuit; as well as several non profits such as the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, Los Altos History Museum, and Acterra. Her hand crafted jewelry and textiles are sold in several stores and galleries throughout California. Judi was drawn to this project as one of her daughters is a dancer, dancing in local performances such as Nutcracker and Cinderella.
For more information, contact Judi at judi@eichlerdesigns.com
Ben Formaker-Olivas
Visuals Coordinator
Ben is a UCLA graduate with a degree in cultural anthropology. As a gay, Latino, Jew, he has worked with various communities to help promote equality and justice. With a passion for art and photography, he enjoys using the visual arts to convey stories and messages.
Susan Haney
Researcher
Moving around the world with her Air Force family, Susan attended twelve different schools by the time she graduated high school in Honolulu. After earning undergraduate and graduate degrees and beginning her career in Southern California, Susan moved to small town in South Dakota, where she raised her three daughters. Susan is finally at home in San Francisco, spending most of her time in the Castro. Working with the Dancers We Lost team to preserve these important stories is a labor of love; getting to know the dancer’s families, friends, and colleagues is an honor.
William Lipsky, Ph.D.
Biographer
Bill Lipsky received his doctorate in history from Carnegie Mellon University. He is author or editor of six books, including Gay and Lesbian San Francisco (2006). His articles have appeared in the Bay Area Reporter, the San Francisco Bay Times, and other publications. He created Snapshot: LGBT History of San Francisco for the Human Rights Campaign and GLBT San Francisco: Castro for the GLBT Historical Society. He and his partner of 35 years live in San Francisco with Langston Chews and Miss Scarlett O’Hairball (who will never be hungry again).
Glenne McElhinney
Director / Curator
Glenne is the founder of Impact Stories a California based history project that uses oral histories, documentary films and exhibits to make LGBT/Ally history come alive for all types of audiences with a special focus on engaging younger viewers and participants. In 1982 representing San Francisco, she was a founding member of InterPride, the international association of pride organizations. Dancers We Lost is her newest project that she has been researching to add to the scholarship documenting the lives and contributions of performers lost to HIV/AIDS.
Elizabeth Pepin Silva
Archival Photo Researcher
Elizabeth Pepin Silva is an independent filmmaker, photographer, researcher and writer born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has won five Emmy Awards and several film festival awards for her television and documentary film work. As a photographer, Elizabeth’s unique and realistic images of women surfers have appeared in museums and galleries, including San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the San Jose Museum of Art.She is also a music licensing maven and archival research specialist, and has done archival work for many projects, including the feature film Milk and the award-winning documentary on the early days of the AIDS crisis, We Were Here.
Robert Roberts
Webmaster
While still a toddler, Mr. Roberts disappeared during a Colorado blizzard, and was found and raised by a hermit miner and his pet 3-legged cougar, Clementine. By his late teens, Robert had become a concert harpsichordist and used this as a cover for another enterprise — international jewel thief. Following his arrest by the FBI, he managed to weasel out of a prison sentence in exchange for helping uncover a syndicated computer crime ring. He is currently in a federal witness protection program, disguised as a mild-mannered artist and freelance web developer.
Ted Sprague
Advisor
Ted Sprague was a dancer/performer for 25 years(film, television, theatre, and nightclubs) and a director/choreographer of stage musicals and plays for over 20 years. He is now retired and serves on the board of the Professional Dancers Society and is one of four producers of the documentary film “Mia, A Dancer’s Journey” which has just received an Emmy nomination.
C. Jerome Woods
Advisor
C. Jerome Woods is Founding Director of the Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Project featuring a vast collection of archival material pertaining to SGL/queer history, with information dating back to the 1930s. Mr. Woods is a retired Special Education Teacher and author who sits on a variety of local boards that include St. Elmo Village, the California LGBT Arts Alliance. He volunteers for community organizations that include International Black Writers & Artists, Strength for the Journey, Colors In Common and Pride & Promote (formerly ATB, L. A.’s Black Pride) as well as Unity Fellowship of Christ Church. He resides in Los Angeles.