Dorr-Raith family Papers, 1828-2021

Held by The Filson Historical Society

Creator: Dorr-Raith family

Title: Dorr-Raith family Papers, 1828-2021

Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department.

Size of Collection: 6 cubic feet (6 records center boxes), 2 oversized folders, 5 audio cassettes, 2 DVDs, 1 reel of Super 8mm film, and 305 GB (224 digital files)

Location Number:  Mss. A D716b

 

 

Biographical Note: Samuel “Sam” Fox Dorr

Sam Fox Dorr grew up in Louisville, where he was born in 1943 to June Mitchell Dorr and William M. Dorr. His first marriage was to Jane Orr, with whom he had a cherished daughter, Chris Dorr. He had questioned his sexuality before their marriage, and they separated in 1967 after he came out as gay to her. Sam had two long-term romantic relationships with men before meeting Charles in 1981. Sam had a varied career in banking, social services, catering, and church administration. In his free time, he devoted thousands of hours to gay and lesbian activism, and HIV/AIDS service organizations.

 

Full biography:

Sam Dorr was born on December 6, 1943, at Norton Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, to June Mitchell Dorr (1907-1989) and William Meriwether Dorr (1896-1978). He grew up in the Crescent Hill neighborhood. During his childhood, Sam’s family frequently moved between different houses and apartments, including addresses at N. Peterson Avenue, 215 S. Birchwood, Stilz Avenue, 152 Crescent Avenue, 28 Eastern Court, and Field Avenue. His father managed the Guthrie Street branch of Citizens Fidelity Bank and Trust Company, but the Dorr family struggled financially, and his parents turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism. As an adult, Sam described his childhood homelife as unsettled, particularly as his parents’ alcoholism increased in severity in his junior high and senior high school years. In the late 1950s, he spent summer vacations with his older half-brother William “Bill” Meriwether Dorr II (1928-1999) and sister-in-law Carolyn Buffaloe Dorr (1933-2017) in Memphis, Tennessee. He was raised in his parents’ church, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, where his mother worked part time. Sam was active in St. Mark’s Sunday School, choir, Boy Scouts, and youth group. He was also active in the Thespian Society at Atherton High School. Sam asked Jane Frederica Orr (b. 1944) to his senior prom, which began their intermittent relationship.

Sam graduated from Atherton High School in 1961 during a tumultuous time in his parents’ lives. After William Dorr was too intoxicated to function at work, his employer forced him to retire and assisted Sam in encouraging both William and June to get medical help. In August-September 1961, Sam’s parents consented to hospitalization for alcoholism. They were admitted to Methodist Hospital for a week and then Western State Hospital in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, for six weeks. In the meantime, Sam moved in with his maternal grandfather, William “Toddy” Wilson Mitchell (1881-1963), at 1299 Willow Avenue in Louisville. His parents also lived with Mitchell after their discharge from Western State. Sam was interested in pursuing an interior design degree at the University of Cincinnati but ultimately decided to stay closer to home. In the fall of 1961, Dorr began his first semester at the University of Kentucky while also managing his parents’ financial affairs on the weekends.[1]

Sam decided not to return to college after his first semester. He got a job with First National Lincoln Bank in Louisville in January 1962 as a runner. He subsequently had positions sorting checks, wrapping coins, and counting deposits. His next promotion was as general teller at the Preston Street branch, where he worked the drive-thru. After having an off and on relationship since high school, Dorr proposed to Jane Orr in 1964 in hopes of getting married in time to avoid the Vietnam War draft. In November 1964, Dorr entered United States Army basic combat training with Company A, 11th Battalion, 3rd Training Brigade at Fort Knox, Kentucky. After basic training, Dorr completed clerical and chaplain assistant training at Fort Dix, New Jersey. While based in New Jersey, he traveled to New York City and Philadelphia to attend Sunday mass and performing arts events. Dorr married Jane F. Orr on June 12, 1965 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Louisville. He served six years in the Army Reserves alongside his work at First National Bank of Louisville, the successor of First National Lincoln. He entered the bank’s management training program and moved around to different branches. Dorr was promoted to manager of the Eastern Parkway Branch in 1967 and assistant cashier in 1969.

Sam and Jane had a child, Christine “Chris” Elizabeth Dorr, in 1966. In the fall of 1967, Sam started going to gay clubs. He came out to his wife and moved out of their home in December 1967. The couple divorced in May 1968. Their daughter stayed with Sam every other weekend until she was a teenager. Dorr began dating John R. Rausch (1932-1984) in early 1968 and together they bought a house at 1215 (now 1227) Ormsby Lane that winter. John volunteered with the Guild Theatre, a Catholic theater group, and the couple made many of their friends through the Louisville theater community.[2]

Sam attended Grace Episcopal Church as an adult and served on the vestry from 1971 to 1974. First National Bank promoted Sam to senior banking officer and manager of the Bardstown Road Branch near the Douglass Loop in 1975. Sam oversaw the completion of the new colonial style branch bank building. Bank marketing campaigns in the late 1970s made Dorr a public figure for the company.

John emotionally and mentally abused Dorr, leading Sam to temporarily leave at least once for six months around 1976-1977. During that time, he lived at an apartment on South Second Street in Old Louisville. He came out to his parents around 1977 when he had to explain why he was moving back in with John. Sam served as executor of his father’s estate after his passing in 1978. Sam’s mother temporarily moved in with Sam and John after William M. Dorr’s death in 1978. In 1980, Sam learned about Integrity, an organization of “gay and lesbian Episcopalians and their friends,” while visiting Chicago and was inspired to organize a chapter in Louisville. Sam ended his relationship with John in November 1980, and the breakup proved difficult as John attempted to continue to emotionally abuse him through correspondence.

Dorr met Ray (last name unknown) in December 1980, and Ray lived with him until May 1981. Dorr decided to break up with Ray because of Ray’s fear of being outted by Dorr’s involvement with Integrity. Dorr focused his attention on Integrity after the breakup and became close with an affirming priest, the Rev. Canon Spenser Simrill, at Christ Church Cathedral in Louisville. In late 1981, Dorr, Jack Kersey, and others were interested in starting a gay crisis hotline. They attended volunteer training with the Seven Counties Services, Inc. Crisis and Information Center.

First National Bank promoted Dorr to vice president in January 1981. Dorr and Charles Raith met through mutual friends within the church in August 1981 and began dating. A few months later, the Louisville chapter of Integrity merged with the local chapter of Dignity, a gay Catholic group, and elected Dorr as president of the new, unified organization. Dorr realized that his position as president of Dignity/Integrity would make him a public spokesperson for gay rights, and he preemptively notified his bank supervisor, whom he considered to be a friend. The bank gave him three options: stop his involvement with Dignity/Integrity and maintain a position at the bank, switch to a non-public-facing role, or resign. Dorr resigned his position and stayed with Dignity/Integrity. He filed a lawsuit against the bank based on religious discrimination in employment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. At the time, interpretations of the Title VII protections against sex discrimination excluded LGBT people. Charles maintained his position as staff architect with the City of Louisville’s Housing Rehabilitation Department, but the loss of Sam’s income led them to sell a family heirloom and home at Ormsby Lane. Jack Kersey helped the couple by offering them a low-rent basement apartment at 1481C St. James Court and small jobs for Sam. In January 1982, Sam and Charles flew to Washington, D.C. to seek financial support for the case from Integrity, Inc. at a meeting of the board of directors.

In 1982, Sam helped form Gays and Lesbians United for Equality (GLUE) in Louisville, and later served as its president. GLUE served as an umbrella organization for several pro-gay groups in Louisville. GLUE and the Louisville Gay Alliance co-sponsored the first Gay Pride Picnic in Otter Creek Park on June 27, 1982. In early September 1982, Sam and Charles attended the annual meeting of Integrity, Inc. in New Orleans immediately prior to the opening of the 1982 Episcopal General Convention. The couple worked in the Integrity booth in the exhibit hall and attended worship and legislative sessions of the convention. In October, Sam was hired for a telephone crisis counselor position in the Seven Counties Services Crisis and Information Center. Dorr used his experience with Seven Counties Services to help GLUE create the Gay and Lesbian Hotline, a crisis hotline in response to the AIDS Crisis. Sam stayed up to date with AIDS resources for queer individuals in Louisville and trained other activists to do the same.

Dorr’s religious discrimination suit went to trial before the United States Court for the Western District of Kentucky, Fifth District, in November 1983. Judge James Gordon ruled in favor of First National Bank, and Sam appealed the decision to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, with legal assistance from the Lambda Legal Defense Fund. Attorney Evan Wolfson led Sam’s appeal; Wolfson later led a national movement for marriage equality. A three-judge panel of the Circuit Court heard the appeal in January 1985. The panel ruled in favor of Dorr’s appeal, which the bank challenged by requesting a rehearing en banc.

By 1985, Dorr served in a voluntary capacity as the Midwest Regional Director of Integrity, Inc. and on the organization’s board of directors. He was promoted to Resource Coordinator at the Crisis and Information Center in 1986. After losing the appeal and being granted its motion for an en banc hearing, First National Bank offered to settle with Dorr by 1986. Dorr and Raith used the settlement money to pay legal fees and make a down payment on a home they purchased from their Christ Church Cathedral friends, (the Rev.) Spenser Simrill and his wife Stuart, at 1380 South 6th Street in the Old Louisville neighborhood. The Neighborhood Development Corporation had renovated the house in 1978-79 as part of the “Adopt-a-House” revitalization program with the Louisville Community Design Center providing architectural services. Dorr and Raith moved into their home as renters on December 30, 1986, and the sale was closed in February 1987. They went on their first vacation together in 1987, traveling to New England and Virginia.

From 1988 to 1989, Dorr served as chairperson for the AIDS Education Coalition. In the 1990s, he operated a small-scale catering business, Dining by Dorr, alongside his full-time work. A reorganization of Sam’s program with the Crisis and Information Center led to his termination in September 1992. In January 1993, he started a new position in administration for Managed Care Programs, Inc., a managed mental health company based in Tampa, Florida, that also had business in Louisville under contract with Humana. Following a job change for Charles, the couple took their first overseas trip to England, Wales, and Scotland on a Globus Tour in August 1995.

Meanwhile, the couple volunteered with Christ Church Cathedral and Old Louisville organizations. Sam volunteered as manager of the Cathedral Bookstore, kitchen manager, member of the Cathedral Chapter, and Senior Warden, and he was on numerous church committees. He also served on the Diocesan Committee on Human Concerns, Board of Directors of the Council of Peacemaking, Kentucky Refugee Ministries, and Kentucky Council of Churches Justice Ministries Committee. In the 1990s and 2000s, Dorr and Raith opened their home as a stop on the Old Louisville Garden Tour and Holiday House Tour. Sam managed and they both cooked for the Old Louisville Holiday House Tour Victorian Tea at the Conrad-Caldwell House, and the Old Louisville Neighborhood Council’s food booth at the St. James Court Art Show.

Managed Care Programs tasked Sam with downsizing the staff after leadership decided to close operations in Louisville. The downsizing and death of the company’s founder from AIDS led Dorr to leave that position in the summer of 1996 and seek out more work for his catering business. After volunteering there for years, Christ Church Cathedral hired Sam as Director of Operations in Louisville on January 1, 1998. The position involved facilities management, bookstore management, membership development, and parish communications. He retired from catering in the fall of 1998. Dorr retired from his position as Director of Operations in August 2008. Sam and Charles moved their membership to the Church of the Advent in 2009, where the congregation elected Sam to the Vestry, which then elected him to be Senior Warden. In May 2009, the couple married in a civil ceremony in Crapo Park, Burlington, Iowa, after Iowa became the third state to legalize same-sex marriage. Burlington was the home of Charles’ aunt and uncle, and a place he had visited often in childhood, playing in the same park. Sam and Charles participated in the National Equality March on October 11, 2009, in Washington, D.C. That winter, the two honeymooned on the island of Kauai in Hawaii.

During Sam’s retirement, the couple traveled internationally and nationally, engaged in Dorr and Meriwether family genealogy and the Meriwether Society, enjoyed hosting family and friends, and continued their activism. Dorr and Raith participated in the National Equality March on October 11, 2009, in Washington, D.C. From 2009 to 2016, Sam served on the AIDS Interfaith Ministries (AIM) of Kentuckiana Board of Directors and as chairperson from 2012 to 2015. According to the AIM bylaws as amended in 2009, the purpose of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit was “to offer services to persons affected by HIV/AIDS,” “promote awareness and to disseminate information about HIV/AIDS,” “recruit and coordinate volunteer activities in support of these services,” and promote and further the services. Sam also served on the board of the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition in the 2010s.

Around 2011, the couple moved to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, where Sam again was elected to the Vestry and later Senior Warden. Sam experienced a minor heart attack in 2011, and health issues began to curtail his activities in 2013. He underwent anterior and posterior spine surgery, two knee replacements, and removal of a kidney. Declining health prompted Sam and Charles to sell their beloved house and move to the Willow Terrace, 1412 Willow Avenue, in August 2019. Sam passed away at home on September 15, 2021, as the result of a heart attack.

Sources:

Meetings between Charles Raith and Filson curators and archivists from 2021-2023, and Charles’s edits to finding aid drafts from 2023-2024.

Adams, Brent. “Church building keeps construction firms busy.” Louisville Business First. May 14, 2001. bizjournals.com/Louisville/stories/2001/05/14/story6.html.

“Samuel Fox Dorr.” Legacy.com. Accessed November 17, 2022. Dorr-Raith Family Papers, Mss. A D716b, finding aid folder, Filson Historical Society.

Buffaloe, Martha. Letter to Sam Dorr. March 21, 1962. Dorr-Raith Family Papers, Mss. A D716b, fld. 70, Filson Historical Society.

Courier-Journal Storytellers Project. “Coming Out: Sam Dorr – ‘How being openly gay cost him his career.’”  February 16, 2017. https://www.storytellersproject.com/talk/how-being-openly-gay-cost-him-his-career/

Dorr, June M. Unpublished journals. Dorr-Raith Family Papers, Mss. A D716b, fld. 19, Filson Historical Society.

Dorr, Sam and Charles Raith. Christmas letter. 1992. Dorr-Raith Family Papers, Mss. A D716b, fld. 203, Filson Historical Society.

Dorr, Sam. “My First Fifteen Years.” Unpublished. Dorr-Raith Family Papers, Mss. A D716b, fld. 104, Filson Historical Society.

Dorr, William M. Unpublished memoirs. Dorr-Raith Family Papers, Mss. A D716b, fld. 34 and 42, Filson Historical Society.

—. “Why does it fail – or does it.” Unpublished manuscript. May 1962. Dorr-Raith Family Papers, Mss. A D716b, fld. 26, Filson Historical Society.

First National Bank of Louisville. “Honorable Mention.” Notes of Interest vol. 1, no. 11 (November 1967). In collection.

— “Promotions at First National.” Notes of Interest vol. 3, no. 10 (October 1969). In collection.

Interview with Sam Dorr, September 12, 2018. OutSouth: LGBTQ+ Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries. https://nunncenter.net/outsouth/items/show/54

 

 

 

Biographical Note: Charles Stephen Raith

Charles S. Raith was born to Charlotte and Julius Raith in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1952. The Raith family moved around the mid-west and south before settling in Louisville. Charles graduated from the University of Cincinnati with an architecture degree and returned to Louisville in 1977 to begin a long career in architecture and urban design administration. His projects ranged from historic preservation and rehabilitation, public and commercial housing, neighborhood planning, and public art.

Full biography:

Charles Raith was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on October 7, 1952, to Charlotte Thuenen Raith (1924-2017) and Julius “Jul” Edwin Raith, Jr. (1925-2019). He has two younger brothers named Peter Allen Raith (b. 1954) and David Christopher Raith (b. 1957). The family moved five times between 1960 and 1970 for Jul’s work during Charles’s childhood. They lived in Olivette, Missouri (a suburb of St. Louis), by the time he entered kindergarten in 1958. After working for his father and uncle in Raith Brothers, the family produce business in St. Louis, Jul took a position with the Steadman Company, wholesale grocers headquartered in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where the family moved in the summer of 1960. Jul’s job was transferred to Beaumont, Texas, in 1961, but within six weeks he had accepted a position with the Fleming Company in Topeka, Kansas. The family then lived in Topeka from 1961 until June 1964, when another transfer took them to Fleming’s branch in Houston, Texas, from 1964 to 1970. Raith learned to play the violin when he was 10 years old and was later a member of the Westchester High School, all-district, and regional orchestras. After his junior year of high school, his family moved to Louisville, Kentucky, in the summer of 1970. Raith graduated from Westport High School in June 1971. Beginning in the fall of 1971, Raith studied architecture at the University of Cincinnati. He was active with the Tangeman University Center Board and served as board president. He worked temporary and co-op positions at Hartstern, Schnell, Campbell, Schadt Associates; as a student assistant architect on the 1974 Historic American Building Survey Louisville project; and Landrum & Brown Airport Consultants during college. He graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Architecture and a Professional Practice Certificate.

Raith returned to Louisville and worked as a staff architect on the Jefferson County Government Center revitalization and renovation of the historic Jefferson County Courthouse for the Jefferson County Archives and Records Service from 1977 to 1978. He joined Bickel-Gibson Associates in 1978 and left the firm in 1980 for an “Architect I” position with the City of Louisville Department of Housing Rehabilitation and became a registered architect in August 1981. During this period, he moonlighted as the architect for the rehabilitation of an historic building on East Market Street to serve as the Wayside Christian Mission’s Women’s and Family Shelter. Dorr and Raith met through mutual friends at Christ Church Cathedral in August 1981 and began dating. Raith became a full member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1982. Two years later, he left the Housing Rehabilitation Department to start an architectural firm as “Charles S. Raith, AIA, Architect” in Jack Kersey’s former real estate office. While in private practice, he completed the Chapel at Christ Church Cathedral, for which he won a Preservation Award from the Preservation Alliance of Louisville & Jefferson County, but his few remaining projects were not built. In 1986, after the settlement in Dorr v. First National Bank of Louisville, Raith and Dorr purchased a home at 1380 South 6th Street in Old Louisville. Dorr and Raith moved into their home as renters in December 1986 and closed in February 1987.

Raith dissolved his firm in 1986 and joined the Kremer Group Architects, which later became the Weyland-Kremer Group and subsequently merged with Louis & Henry, Inc. Charles’s main projects were scattered-site public housing (a mixture of historic rehabilitation and new construction), Lyndon (Ky.) Fire Station No. 1, and the Haymarket for A. Thomas & Sons Meat Co. (now demolished). Raith worked for the Louisville Development Authority as Administrator of Urban Design from 1995 to 2002. Raith oversaw Louisville historic preservation, urban design, neighborhood planning, and public art in his role. He served as the chief staff person for the Downtown Development Review Overlay, overseeing and preparing cases for review. He prepared neighborhood plans for Old Louisville, Irish Hill, and Belknap; participated in the 2000 update of the Downtown Plan; oversaw conversion of the Fourth St. Mall back to two-way traffic and the development and implementation of its streetscape plan; and oversaw public art for the Nia Center and the Kentucky International Convention Center. During this period, Raith chaired the design committee for the rehabilitation of Christ Church Cathedral, for which John Milner Associates (JMA) of West Chester, Pennsylvania, was the design/historic architect. JMA hired Raith as an Associate in their new branch office in Louisville in 2002. Before starting his new position, Sam surprised Charles with a trip to London for Charles’s 50th birthday. Charles’s work at JMA included Cathedral Commons, consulting on historic sites and buildings, and preparation of campus heritage plans and preservation plans. He served on a site selection committee for the York statue plaza in Louisville, which was unveiled in 2003. John Milner Associates promoted Charles to Associate Director of the Architecture and Historic Preservation Department in February 2006, and he served on the company’s board of directors. The couple visited Paris, France, to celebrate their 25th anniversary in 2006. Raith served on the Downtown Development Review Overlay District Committee from 2008 to at least 2012, which he had previously worked with as Louisville Urban Design Administrator.

Charles’s notable works include the Chapel at Christ Church Cathedral, Lyndon Fire Station No. 1, Cathedral Commons (mixed-use commercial and affordable housing), rehabilitation of the Howard-Hardy House, exterior restoration of the U.S. Marine Hospital in Louisville’s Portland neighborhood, and restoration of the Woodrow Wilson Family Home as the Museum of the Reconstruction Era in Columbia, South Carolina.

In the 2000s, Charles and Sam traveled to visit their daughter Chris Dorr where she was stationed with the U.S. Navy in San Diego, California, and Jacksonville Beach, Florida. After Dorr’s retirement in 2008, Charles and Sam became active at the Church of the Advent and increased their recreational travel. In May 2009, the two married in Crapo Park, Burlington, Iowa, after Iowa became the third state to legalize same-sex marriage. Charles’s maternal family was from Iowa and Crapo Park was a place where Charles played during childhood visits with his aunt, uncle, and cousins who lived in Burlington. One of Charles’s cousins helped connect the couple to a local judge. That Fall, Charles and Sam participated in the National Equality March on October 11, 2009, in Washington, D.C. The couple honeymooned on Kauai in Hawaii later in 2009.

In the 2010s, Raith and Dorr traveled with friends internationally to Andalucía, Spain and southwestern France. At home, the couple enjoyed hosting family and friends and traveling in the United States. Charles retired from John Milner Associates in 2014, closing the firm’s local office. He continued to volunteer for local historic preservation causes, including as a restoration consultant for Locust Grove.

 

Sources:

Meetings between Charles Raith and Filson curators and archivists from 2021-2023, and Charles’s edits to finding aid drafts from 2023-2024.

“Charlotte Thuenen Raith.” Pearson Funeral Home. Accessed December 8, 2022. https://www.pearsonfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Charlotte-Raith/#!/Obituary. Dorr-Raith Family Papers, Mss. A D716b, finding aid folder, Filson Historical Society.

“Samuel Fox Dorr.” Legacy.com. Accessed November 17, 2022. Dorr-Raith Family Papers, Mss. A D716b, finding aid folder, Filson Historical Society.

Adams, Brent. “Church building keeps construction firms busy.” Louisville Business First. May 14, 2001. bizjournals.com/Louisville/stories/2001/05/14/story6.html.

Dorr, Sam and Charles Raith. Christmas letter. 1992. Dorr-Raith Family Papers, Mss. A D716b, fld. 203, Filson Historical Society.

Interview with Sam Dorr, September 12, 2018. OutSouth: LGBTQ+ Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries. https://nunncenter.net/outsouth/items/show/54

Elson, Martha. “Neighborhood Newsmaker: Charles Raith; Urban designer shifts to related role.” The Courier-Journal. November 13, 2002.

John Milner Associates. Announcement of hire of Charles Raith. 2002. Dorr-Raith Family Papers, Mss. A D716b, fld. 178, Filson Historical Society.

Raith, Charles. “Salary History.” Unpublished list, ca. 1979. Dorr-Raith Family Papers, Mss. A D716b, fld. 165, Filson Historical Society.

[1] For the family’s moves, financial struggles, alcoholism, abuse, hospitalization, church activities, and Sam Dorr’s childhood, see Interview with Sam Dorr, September 12, 2018, OutSouth: LGBTQ+ Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, https://nunncenter.net/outsouth/items/show/54; “My First Fifteen Years,” “William M. Dorr his story,” “June M. Dorr (Her Story),” and 1950s correspondence between Sam and his father in the Dorr-Raith Family papers.

[2] Interview with Sam Dorr, September 12, 2018, OutSouth: LGBTQ+ Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, https://nunncenter.net/outsouth/items/show/54

 

Scope and Content Note

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of a Louisville, Kentucky, married couple, Sam Dorr (1943-2021) and Charles Raith (1952- ). Materials span from their childhoods through adulthood and include family documents from before their births. The papers are useful for researching 20th- to early 21st-century LGBTQ life and activism in the urban Upper South, the Louisville AIDS crisis, Louisville non-profit social services, religion and sexuality, Episcopal religious material culture, gay material culture, family and romantic relationships, renovation and preservation of historic homes, and food and dining culture. The collection contains analog, digitized, and born-digital files.

Charles donated the bulk of the collection to the Filson after Sam’s death in 2021. A small box of materials on Sam’s family (accession number 019×96) is also included in the collection. An archivist transferred the digital and digitized files from a USB drive, which was returned to Charles.

The collection is arranged into three series: Sam Dorr’s papers, Charles Raith’s papers, and shared materials that relate to both after they were a couple. This arrangement was imposed by the processing archivist.

 

Series 1: Sam Dorr, 1853-2016

Folders 1-64 relate to Sam Dorr’s family. They consist of papers of Sam’s parents June Mitchell Dorr (1907-1989) and William Meriwether Dorr (1896-1978), Dorr and Mitchell family obituaries and funeral ephemera, memoirs by June and William, records of Sam’s settlement of his parents’ estates, and born-digital genealogy notes. These folders date from 1828 to 2010s and are arranged alphabetically by the person’s last name. Family members documented include Sam’s paternal grandmother Hannah Travilla Meriwether Dorr (1858-1946), half-brother William Dorr II (1928-1999), step-niece Ceri Marie Geissinger, Rena W. Mitchell (d. 1976), Sarah Harriet Mitchell (d. 1932), Sue Craigmyle Mitchell (1889-1955), and maternal grandfather William Mitchell (1881-1963).

The bulk of the family materials relate to Sam’s parents William Dorr and June Dorr. The estate folders include identification documents for William and June Dorr. Their separate memoirs and journals document their childhoods and adulthoods, relationships, marriage, financial struggles, homes, raising Sam, alcoholism, hospitalizations, and founding Alcoholics Anonymous Group 19 in Louisville. William’s papers (folders 20, 25-48) include memoirs, correspondence, poetry, clippings, and genealogy notes. His activity in the Episcopal Church is represented in ephemera from Grace Episcopal Church, Christ Church Cathedral, and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church; sacramental records; convention records; devotional cards and booklets; and other ephemera. Other items of note are issues of the Citadel Newsletter of Citizens Fidelity Bank and Trust Company for January 1950, 1953-1955, May 1966, December 1966, March 1963, 1957, February 1958, April 1958, and June 1958.

June’s papers (folders 17-20) include sacramental records, a business card, program from a service at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church listing June as a member of the Women’s Auxiliary, and the August 1987 issue of the newsletter for Meadows East nursing home, “Meadows East Messenger,” for which June drew the cover art. June’s journals date from 1985 until her death. She recounts memories from her childhood and adulthood, describes her health and life in Meadows East nursing home, and processes her medical struggles and aging. Accounts of her childhood and youth include memories of Greensburg, Lebanon, and Louisville, Kentucky, and Bloomington, Indiana; her difficult relationships with her parents and brothers; sexual assaults; work; household finances during the depression; and her dating life. Oversized folder 146 contains an undated interior design sketch of a residential floorplan by June. A digitized audio cassette tape contains a recording of the 20th anniversary meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous Group 19 held on December 7, 1981. One of the founding members describes their experience with alcoholism and the group. Names from the cassette tape may not be recorded in research notes, publications, or other documents at the request of the donor and in respect of A.A.’s policy on anonymity.

Folders 65-122 document Sam Dorr’s personal life from childhood to adulthood. The folders are arranged by topic and listed in chronological order by creation date.

The General folder (folder 82) contains ephemera, identification documents, and notes by Dorr, ranging from 1972 to 2005. In a 3-page, handwritten document dated January 4, 1982, Dorr provides “some thoughts as to just who I am at this point in my life.” Dorr writes about feeling like the last 30-plus years of his life was in preparation for this time, his relationship and feelings for Charles, and starting to look for a new job. He includes dates and a description of the discrimination he faced at First National Bank after coming out to his supervisor. Other materials of interest include a sheet of painful events and unexpected good that resulted with handwritten answers, potentially from a therapy session in the early 1980s; a 1983 notification of change of party affiliation from “Rep” to “Dem”; a completed Ministry Discovery Exercise (circa 1980s); and a flyer for Indianapolis, Indiana, gay bathhouse The Body Works titled “Handy Guide to What the Color of Hankerchiefs Means” (circa 1977-1980s).

Childhood materials (folders 65-70) include a baby book with photographs of Sam alone and with family, doctor’s instructions, medical records, birth announcement, baptismal record and program for his baptism, vacation bible school certificates, elementary school records and photographs, obituaries for his pediatrician and elementary school teachers, a Kentucky state free textbook card (1951), a St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Boy Scouts Pack-1 1954 Christmas carols booklet, correspondence between Dorr’s father and Samuel B. Kelley about Dorr’s negative experiences at summer camps and in the St. Mark’s scouting troop (1955); and Barret Junior High School report cards, student newspaper The Cynosure (December 1955 and June 1958), and music festival programs (1956, 1958). In the Education for Ministry program folder (folder 104), a 1984 autobiographical note titled “My First Fifteen Years” describes Sam’s relationship with his mother, father, paternal grandmother, neighbors, choir instructor, and his half-brother and sister-in-law.

Materials documenting Sam’s relationship with Jane Orr (folders 72-74) include cards, Waggener High School event ephemera, St. Anthony Hospital School of nursing commencement program, wedding invitation, newspaper clippings on their engagement and wedding, and wedding cards with notations of the gift received from the individual(s). Their daughter, Chris, is documented in folders 80, 85, and 94-95 through cards, dance recital programs (1973-1977), choral programs (1980-1982), a Louisville Male High School report card (1982), University of Louisville School of Medicine convocation program and invitation (1992), and retirement ceremony ephemera (2019). Post-divorce materials include cards to Sam from Jane and Chris Dorr.

Correspondence from Sam’s childhood and young adulthood include cards from his mother and father (folder 70) and correspondence between Sam and his father (folder 69). Materials of interest include letters between Sam and William about Sam’s summer stays with his brother William H. Dorr II and Carolyn Ann Buffaloe Dorr in Memphis, Tennessee, and train travel in the summer of 1956-1958. Sam writes about swimming in their pool, doing yard work, watching TV, learning how to play golf, and his morning routine, and he asks about his pets. William writes about his and June’s social life, June’s interior design work, and how their pets are doing. In 1955, William wrote multiple letters to Sam while attending an Episcopal Church convention in Honolulu, Hawaii. He describes his activities, how different Honolulu is from Louisville, the different ethnicities and races in Honolulu, and the Queen’s Surf, a former palace of Princess Kaiulani. Other family correspondents include Margaret Buffaloe (1962), Bill Dorr, Aunt Ethel Talbert, “Granny,” and Sam’s father-in-law Robert Orr. For more on Dorr’s youth and young adulthood, see 021PC40 Dorr-Raith Family Photograph Collection, and correspondence and scrapbooks in Mss. A D716a Dorr family added papers.

Dorr’s relationship with John R. Rausch (folders 75, 77-81a) is documented in correspondence between John and Sam, records of settling financial affairs between them and compensation for Sam after John’s death in 1984, a Christmas menu, United States travel ephemera, and Louisville and Indiana area performing arts programs. One reel of Kodachrome Super 8mm film document Sam and John visiting presidential historic sites around the 1960s-1970s. The film has been digitized. See the Dorr-Raith Family Photograph Collection for photographs of the couple and their travels.

Folders 68, 76, 84, 104-104b relate to Dorr’s activity with the Episcopal Church, including Grace Church (1968-1971), St. Mark’s Church (1954-1966), and Christ Church Cathedral (1975-2000). The bulk of materials are mass bulletins and newspaper clippings. Cursillo materials (1973-1987) include contact lists, ephemera, and explanations of Cursillo. A binder with schedules, contact lists, notes, exercises, and correspondence relate to Sam’s enrollment in the Education for Ministry extension program through the University of the South School of Theology. Oversized folder 146 contains his certificate. A biography section includes notes and a timeline of his life. Topics include his family relationships and friendships during his childhood; financial struggles; employment; and relationships. For more materials on Dorr’s faith and church activity, see the Shared series.

Folders 103, 106-110, 112-121 document Dorr’s activism and volunteer work with Dignity/Integrity, AIDS Interfaith Ministries of Kentuckiana (AIM), and the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition. Dignity/Integrity materials include 1983 correspondence about the group’s use of Christ Church Cathedral as a meeting place after critical comments by parishioners, including a description of the group’s activities; a 1983 newsletter that has references to the Gay and Lesbian Union of Students at the University of Kentucky, Gay Nurses Alliances of Louisville, Lambda Louisville, Gay Pride Week, Gay and Lesbian Hotline, Lutherans Concerned, University of Louisville Gay Student Union, and Shalom Gays; and a circa 1980s report on Integrity-Louisville All Saints Summer Services.

AIM Board of Directors folders (2009-2016) contain bylaws; meeting agendas with reports, proposed budgets, financial statements, past meeting minutes, prospective board member biographies, and other items for discussion at the meetings; strategic plan drafts and presentation; policies and procedures; event flyers, invitations, and programs; board member nomination forms; HIV, AIDS, and LGBTQ+ topic information sheets; correspondence; and newspaper clippings. Topics include fundraising; emergency housing program; counseling program; food bank; medical assistance; educational outreach; personal care item distribution; monthly client dinners; annual retreats; financial mismanagement that led to the folding of the organization; relationships with House of Ruth, Volunteers of America, WINGS Medical Clinic, AIDS Services Center Coalition, Christian churches, and The Temple, Congregation Adath Israel Brith Sholom in Louisville; Executive Director Aaron Guldenschuh-Gatten; and events such as the Louisville AIDS Walk and Taste of Hope.

Folders 123-127 and oversized 146 relate to Dorr’s training and service in the United States Army Reserves from 1964 to 1966. Fort Knox materials (1964-1965) include a military identification card; a card from Dorr to his parents notifying them of his arrival at Fort Knox, Kentucky; an information map (oversized folder 146); and a Thanksgiving menu. A published 1965 book, United States Army Training Center, Armor, Third Training Brigade, Eleventh Battalion, Company A, contains a history of the Center at Fort Knox, descriptions of training, and photographs of the company. The Courier-Journal Magazine 1965 January 17 and 24 issues feature “The Recruit,” a two-part story on Sam’s experience in basic training (oversized folder 146). Correspondence, newspaper clippings, and a three-page typed manuscript with handwritten edits by William Dorr respond to the story (folder 124). Materials related to Fort Dix in New Jersey include a 1965 contact sheet, meal card, certificates in basic army administration course and chaplain assistant course, a notebook, and the contents of his training binder, which includes notes on military records management, Army chaplains, and sample personnel paperwork. Church bulletins, menus, and theater programs document Dorr’s travel to New York City and Philadelphia while stationed at Fort Dix. See Dorr-Raith family photographs for more materials from this time. A copy of July 24, 1966 special orders number 8 lists Dorr as a Specialist Fourth Class (E4) and MOS 71C30 under Commander Edmond Waters. See Mss. A D716a Dorr family added papers for correspondence from Sam about his experience at Fort Knox and Fort Dix.

Folders 128-145 relate to Dorr’s professional career at First National Bank, Seven Counties Services, Inc., Dining by Dorr, and Christ Church Cathedral from 1962-2009. Common materials across the companies are performance reviews that detail his projects and accomplishments; correspondence related to personnel matters; employee identification and business cards; newspaper clippings; and greeting and thank you cards from coworkers, employees, and patrons.

Bank materials are arranged chronologically by date of creation. Noteworthy bank materials include a 1970 public relations packet on the design of a new First National Bank building; and staff newsletters for First National Lincoln Bank (1963), First National Bank of Louisville and The Kentucky Trust Company (1967, 1969, 1971-1973), and First National Bank of Louisville and First Kentucky (1973, 1975-1976). Oversized folder 146 contains First National Bank marketing materials from 1974-1978, including full issues of The Highland Olde Towner Vol. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 (1974-1975), a Highlands neighborhood newspaper that published First National Bank advertisements and stories.

Noteworthy materials in the Seven Counties Services Crisis and Information Center folders include a circa 1981 copy of the volunteer policy, a circa 1982 orientation handbook, May 1983 and Dec/Jan 1986 issues of the Staff Notes newsletter, and a 1984 memo from the volunteer coordinator describing volunteer positions.

The Dining by Dorr catering business records date from 1990-1998. The folders are arranged chronologically by year and contain menus, cost estimates, invoices, ingredient lists, recipes, receipts, thank you cards, and newspaper clippings. A general folder contains undated business cards, sample letterhead, and a minidisk backup of files.

The Christ Church Cathedral employment folders contain business cards, a reflection sheet for his 1998 annual review, 2001 records regarding changes in staffing and the organization of the church, and clippings and correspondence related to Dorr’s retirement in 2008.

Dorr’s death and celebration of life is documented in the Shared series.

 

Series 2: Charles Raith, circa 1948-circa 2000s

Raith’s personal files span from his childhood to middle age. The folders are arranged chronologically by creation date. Childhood and youth materials (folders 147-160) include a baby book, birth certificate, medical records, handwritten stories by Charles, a collage scrapbook of cartoons, high school orchestra programs, honors society membership documentation, and an itinerary and description of his trip to Washington, D.C., with his father in 1971. Westport High School documents (1970-1971) include a prom announcement, report card, student identification card, perfect attendance certificate, graduation announcement, baccalaureate service program, Honors Day program, and 1971 commencement program.

University of Cincinnati materials (1971-1977) relate to his acceptance for admission, membership in the student union, awards, and commencement. The Department of Architecture Class of 1977 is documented by a Senior Show poster with signatures and a list of contact information for seniors with handwritten updates. A 1975 Omicron Delta Kappa membership certificate and 1977 University of Cincinnati Bachelor of Architecture diploma are housed in oversized folder 184. The processing archivist separated a student identification card, grade reports, and transcripts because of the presence of Raith’s social security number. These records (folder 157) are restricted until his death.

Correspondence to Charles (folder 158) dates from 1970-1975 and circa 1980s-2007. The bulk of the letters (1971-1977, undated) are from his former high school English teacher in Houston, Texas, Ann Ruff (1930-1993). Ruff writes about news of Raith’s former classmates, teaching, her career after teaching, her husband’s job in the oil industry, her travels, and her cancer. Correspondence from Charles’s brother Peter Raith includes a 1972 Ballard High School graduation announcement for Peter, a 1974 letter about Charles’s election as president to the University Center Board at University of Cincinnati, and a circa 1980s-1990s letter about Peter coming to terms with Charles’s relationship with Sam. Other materials are from university offices of admission (1970), cards from his parents and uncle, and 1991-1992 postcards from the St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church’s Afro-German Tearoom.

Raith’s faith- and church-related materials (folder 162) include his application for a lay reader’s license for Christ Church Cathedral (1980) and certificates for his license (1980-1981); a 1981 certificate of witness to the baptism of Ethan Erick Lewis in Iowa by Raith as baptismal sponsor; Raith’s handwritten notes on stages in his life entitled “How God has been conscious of all my ways/journeys/resting places” dated November 2, 1995; undated catechesis materials; and 1984-1999 magazines on biblical archaeology topics. His 1998 Education for Ministry certificate is housed in oversized folder 184.

Raith’s professional files date from 1977 to 2012. The folders (163-183) are titled by place of employment or project, and are arranged chronologically by creation date. Common materials across the companies are business and identification cards, newspaper clippings, application materials, letters of resignation, confirmations of offer acceptances, correspondence thanking him for his work, and congratulations on new positions and promotions. Louisville-area projects documented in the materials include the Jefferson County Courthouse, Christ Church Cathedral Willig Memorial Chapel, Cathedral Commons, Volunteers of America Women’s Center, Lyndon Fire Protection District, Haymarket, and affordable housing. A research file of notes and clippings on twentieth century Louisville architecture includes a timeline of the construction of major public and private buildings and their architects.

The General folder (164) contains a list of his employment and salary history for 1968-1979, Bickel-Gibson Associates Architects resignation letter (1980), 1985 phone book page with Raith’s independent firm listed, portfolio of work (November 1985), Downtown Development Review Overlay District Committee appointment letter (2008) and Mayor’s citation for his work with the committee (2012), Registered Architect stamped and embossed card and business card, and American Institute of Architects membership card. Oversized folder 184 contains his 1981 Kentucky State Board of Examiners and Registration of Architects certificate, 1981 National Council of Architectural Registration Boards certificate, 1982 American Institute of Architects certificate of membership, and circa 2003 Eastern Trail Legacy of Lewis and Clark poster.

Louisville Development Authority materials of note include 1995-1998 performance reviews, accomplishments, and goals; and November 1999 presentation notes titled “Reconnecting Downtown Louisville to the Ohio River.”

Christ Church Cathedral noteworthy items are a 2002 tour brochure, explanations of parish banners, and rededication program that includes a history of the Cathedral; a 14-page history of the Cathedral by Raith dated 2003; and news clippings and ephemera for the Cathedral Commons housing, retail, and office project, 2005-2006.

The Locust Grove Cultural Landscape report folder (183) contains reference materials gathered for the report. Contents are 2016 Locust Grove Cultural Landscape Committee meeting agendas, minutes, and notes; typed excerpts from Croghan family letters on former buildings and fields; maps; chronology of land acquisition and sales; and a circa 2013-2014 draft of the Locust Grove Master Plan with edits.

For more on Raith’s professional life, see Mss. AR R161 Charles Raith Architectural Drawings, 1977-1985 and the unprocessed 017×5 Charles Raith Papers.

 

Series 3: Shared, 1981-2021

The Shared series documents Sam Dorr’s and Charles Raith’s lives together after they became a couple in 1981. Topics include their wedding; Episcopal Church activities; renovation of their home; Old Louisville neighborhood events and volunteering; travel; and events for family, friends, and LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations. Folders are named by topic or material type and arranged chronologically by creation date.

Correspondence is organized by the correspondents: letters and cards between Sam and Charles, from their family members, and from friends. Correspondence between the couple and friends includes erotic commercial greeting cards, the bulk of which were printed by the companies Rockshots (New York, New York), Backes, Parsons, and Smith, Inc. (Oakland, California), and West Graphics (San Francisco, California). Items of note include Christmas letters from Sam and Charles that provide a description of their lives in 1992 and 2004.

Correspondence from Sam’s mother June, and his brother Bill and sister-in-law Cathy Dorr was substantial enough to warrant separate folders. Photographs of Bill, Cathy, and Sam and Charles in their pool were separated from Bill’s correspondence and processed in the photograph collection. Four audio cassette tapes of 1996-1997 and undated voice-letters from Bill to Sam have been digitized.

Old Louisville neighborhood materials include documentation of event planning and their home at 1380 S. Sixth Street. Folder 194 contains the deed and mortgage record for the house. Sam and Charles opened their home for the Old Louisville Garden Tour and Holiday House Tour, and volunteered with the Victorian Tea in the 1990s and 2000s. The Old Louisville Holiday House Tour Victorian Tea folder contains 1993-1996 typed menus with ingredient lists, recipes, volunteer lists, and receipts. The Garden Tour folder includes a circa 1990s description and plant list of their garden at 1380 S. Sixth Street, 1997 and 2004 programs, 2014 invitation postcard, 2004 map on a fan (2), and 1997 and 2005 correspondence thanking them for their involvement. The Old Louisville Holiday House Tour folder includes a 1999 write-up of their house history and descriptions of rooms. The Kentucky Historic Preservation Tax Credit folder documents the purchase, renovation, and state of their home in application for the tax credit certification in 2011. See Dorr-Raith photographs (021PC40) for additional photographs of the property.

The couple’s joint involvement with and interest in the Episcopal Church is documented in folders on the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky (1981-2006), Grace Episcopal Church (1985, 1988), Christ Church Cathedral (1992, 1996), and General Convention (2009). Common materials across the folders are newspaper clippings and programs. Noteworthy materials in the Diocese of Kentucky folder are clippings on discussions of religion and homosexuality at diocese conventions; copies of resolutions from the 155th Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky, including anti-homosexuality resolution no. 6 “Resolution Concerning Acceptance of Persons,” and no. 7 on nuclear arms race and praying for peace by the Peace Commission of the Diocese of Kentucky; and 1987 lay reader licenses for Dorr and Raith. Two DVDs contain lecture recordings on Christianity and homosexuality that were important to Sam: Professor John Boswell, “1500 Years of the Church Blessing Lesbian and Gay Relationships: It’s Nothing New,” copyright 1988 Integrity, Inc; and Robert Nugent and Jeannine Gramick, “Homophobia: Acknowledging a Prejudice,” National Catholic Reporter Publishing Co., 1989.

The couple’s wedding in Iowa (folder 219) is documented by their Iowa marriage license (May 15, 2009), Iowa certificate of marriage (May 26-28, 2009), a typescript of the marriage liturgy, a menu, thank you and congratulations cards to the couple, and an appraisal of the couple’s wedding bands. The wedding folder also contains newspaper clippings and correspondence about Pam Platt’s 2010 coverage of Sam and Charles’s wedding in “Love creates one story from 2 people sharing.” See Dorr-Raith photographs (021PC40) for an album on their wedding.

Two folders document the couple’s friendship with Adrian Boyle and another incarcerated friend. The couple worked with Adrian Boyle through Dignity/Integrity in the early 1980s. Folder 190 contains an undated erotic greeting card from Adrian and correspondence from attorney Paul Guthrie about Sam testifying on Boyle’s character in a 1983 manslaughter case before the Fayette Circuit Court. The bulk of the folder is 1984 correspondence with Adrian Boyle while he was incarcerated for second-degree manslaughter in the minimum security Roederer Farm Center (as of 2023, Roederer Correctional Complex) in LaGrange, Kentucky. Boyle describes his daily routine, how his faith sustains him, starting a newsletter for Roederer Farm Church, his job in the warden’s office, teaching other prisoners how to read, religious services at the prison, and his impression of young people at the prison. Includes the first issue of the Roederer Farm Church newsletter, August 1984, that contains a description of Chaplain Roscoe Plowman, news of inmates that had been released or moved elsewhere, and a calendar of religious events.

CLOSED to researchers until 2053: Folder 224 contains 2019-2021 correspondence between the couple and a friend[1] incarcerated at minimum security Federal Prison Camp (as of 2023, called FCI Ashland Federal Correctional Institution Satellite Camp) in Ashland, Kentucky. The correspondence includes descriptions of COVID-19 mitigation efforts in the prison, their daily schedule, meals, clothing, leisure, exercise, interactions with other gay men, feeling closeted, the $18 a month salary that others get, how much the daily distant prayer time with Sam and Charles means to them, internet access restrictions, and delay in receiving emails because of administrative screening of correspondence. The folder is closed to researchers until 2053.

The Celebrating Sam folder documents Sam’s death, funeral, and celebration of life in 2021. Materials include an obituary, funeral program, invitation for memory celebration in honor of Sam, and memories of Sam provided by guests.

[1] The person’s name must be kept anonymous in the Finding Aid per their request.

 

Conditions of Access and Use

Born-digital materials can be viewed using Filson library computers. Remote access may be granted on a case-by-case basis. Please speak to staff about how to access digital files.

Please access the digitized audio and video files for playback. Staff can pull the original audiovisual and digital media carriers for researchers, but the media will not be plugged into or played on a device.

 

Restrictions

Names from the Alcoholic Anonymous audio cassette tape (Item 18a) may not be recorded in research notes, publications, or other documents at the request of the donor and in respect of AA’s policy on anonymity.

Some of Charles Raith’s materials are closed until his death because of the presence of social security numbers. The affected materials are isolated in folders 157 and 160.

Folder 120: AIM Board of Directors minutes, August 2016 contains sensitive health information and is closed until 2053 at the request of the documented person.

Folder 224: Correspondence with friend is closed until 2053 at the request of the friend.

 

Related Collections

United States Army Training Center, Armor, Fort Knox, Kentucky. Albert Love Enterprises, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia. 1965. Book for the Third Training Brigade, Eleventh Battalion, Company A, originally housed in the Dorr-Raith papers.

LEO Weekly, Volume 19, Number 47 (October 21, 2009), originally housed with 10th anniversary of Fairness folder in the Dorr-Raith papers.

2021.42.1-70 Dorr-Raith Museum Objects

017×5 Charles Raith Papers (unprocessed)

021PC40 Dorr-Raith Family Photograph Collection

021PC40.1-2 William Meriwether and Lillie Morsell Daguerreotypes

Mss. A D716 Dorr Family Papers, 1781-1943 (bulk 1835-1895)

Mss. A D716a Dorr Family Added Papers, 1836-1979 (bulk: 1900-1979)

Mss. AR R161 Charles Raith Architectural Drawings, 1977-1985

 

Related Collections at Other Repositories:

Interview with Sam Dorr, September 12, 2018. OutSouth: LGBTQ+ Oral History Project. Held at Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries. https://nunncenter.net/outsouth/items/show/54

Williams Nichols collection, Archives and Special Collections, University of Louisville. https://library.louisville.edu/archives/lgbtq/file

 

Folder List

Series 1: Sam Dorr

Box 1

Folder 1: Anthony, Dorr and Co. economic news circulars, 1853

Folder 2: Dorr family general, 1859-1920s, undated

Folder 3: Dorr family Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts (all born-digital), 2010s

Folder 4: Dorr family poetry, circa 1870s-1900s

Binder 5: Dorr family poetry binder, circa 1870s-1900s

Folder 6: Dorr, Albert H. research file (all born-digital), 2010s

Folder 7: Dorr, Charles Hazen and Mary Gray Ward research file (all born-digital), 2010s

Folder 8: Dorr, Ebenezer research file (all born-digital), 2010s

Folder 9: Dorr, Edward and Elizabeth Hawley research file (all born-digital), 2010s

Folder 10: Dorr, Francis F. research file (all born-digital), 2010s

Folder 11: Dorr, George Bucknam research file (all born-digital), 2010s

Folder 12: Dorr, George Bucknam II research file (all born-digital), 2010s

Folder 13: Dorr, Hannah Travilla M., 1869-1946

Folder 14: Dorr, Hazen, 1845, 1856

Folder 15: Dorr, James Augustus research file (all born-digital), 2010s

Folder 16: Dorr, Joseph, Jr. research file (all born-digital), 2010s

Folder 17: Dorr, June M. general, 1941-1987

Folder 18: Dorr, June M. estate settlement, 1969, 1979, 1989-1990

 

Stored separate

Item 18a: [Restricted] 20th anniversary meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous Group 19, December 7, 1981, audio cassette tape (digitized)

 

Box 1 continued

Folder 19: Dorr, June M. journals and letter drafts, 1985-1989

Folder 20: Dorr, June M. and William M. Dorr correspondence, 1952-1955

Folder 21: Dorr, Samuel research file (all born-digital), 2010s

Folder 22: Dorr, Samuel, Hon. research file (all born-digital), 2010s

Folder 23: Dorr, Samuel Fox research file (all born-digital), 2010s

Folder 24: Dorr, Susan E. research file (all born-digital), 2010s

Folder 25: Dorr, William M. A Bit O’Joy poetry book, circa 1870s-1900s

Folder 26: Dorr, William M. Alcoholics Anonymous, 1962, 1966, undated

Folder 27: Dorr, William M. Anchorage, Kentucky, 1969, 1974

Folder 28: Dorr, William M. childhood and school, 1896-1915

Folder 29: Dorr, William M. Christ Church Cathedral, 1954, 1972

Volume 30: Dorr, William M. Christ Church Cathedral Sesquicentennial, 1972

Folder 31: Dorr, William M. Citizens Fidelity Bank and Trust, 1947-1972

Folder 32: Dorr, William M. clippings on, 1939-1966

Folder 33: Dorr, William M. clippings gathered by, 1800s-1900s

Folder 34: Dorr, William M. The Day Before Yesterday memoir, post-1955

Folder 35: Dorr, William M. Diocese of Kentucky, 1936-1978

Folder 36: Dorr, William M. Dorr family genealogy, 1844-1971

Folder 37: Dorr, William M. estate settlement, 1897, 1971-1979

 

Box 2

Folder 38: Dorr, William M. family correspondence, 1928, circa 1941, 1953-1965, 1977

Folder 39: Dorr, William M. friends, 1937-1971, undated

Folder 40: Dorr, William M. general, 1927-1943, undated

Folder 41: Dorr, William M. Grace Episcopal Church, 1964-1972

Folder 42: Dorr, William M. His Story, 1935-1937

Folder 43: Dorr, William M. romantic relationships, circa 1920s-1940s

Folder 44: Dorr, William M. religious general, 1915-1951, undated

Folder 45: Dorr, William M. St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 1942-1989

Folder 46: Dorr, William M. II and Carolyn Ann Buffaloe, 1956

Folder 47: Dorr, William M. II death, 1999

Folder 48: Dorr, William M. II general, 1995-1996, undated

Folder 49: Edwards, Martha Ann Dorr and Henry (includes born-digital), 1828, 2010s

Folder 50: English family – deaths (includes hair), 1842, undated

Folder 51: Geissinger, Ceri Marie, 1984, 1992

Folder 52: Hazen family general, 1800s

Folder 53: Hazen family research file (all born-digital), 2010s

Folder 54: McPherson, Susan Elizabeth Dorr, 1904-1910

Folder 55: Meriwether, David – clippings, obituary, and historical marker, 1898-1987

Folder 56: Meriwether, William A. clippings and military record, 1881-1933

Folder 57: Meriwether family general, 1800s

Folder 58: Meriwether, William A. and Nelson Thomasson connection research, circa 2010s

Folder 59: Mitchell, Ralph clippings on, 1960, 1992

Folder 60: Mitchell, Rena W. obituaries, 1976

Folder 61: Mitchell, Sarah Harriet memorial record, May 1932

Folder 62: Mitchell, Sue Craigmyle memorial book, 1955

Folder 63: Mitchell, William Wilson funeral, 1963

Folder 64: Morsell, Hannah Travilla, 1850, undated

Folder 65: Baby book, 1943-1955

Folder 66: Loose items from baby book, 1943-1944, 1967, 2018

Folder 67: Childhood, 1943, 1953-1958, 1989

Folder 68: St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 1954-1955, 1961-1966

Folder 69: Correspondence between William M. Dorr and Sam, 1955-1959, 1962, circa 1970s

Folder 70: Family correspondence to Sam, circa 1950s-1985, 2018

Folder 71: News clippings, circa 1960s-1970s

Folder 72: Jane Orr Dorr, 1962-1980s

Folder 73: Sam Dorr and Jane Orr wedding, 1965

Folder 74: Family greeting cards, circa 1960s

Folder 75: Louisville performing arts programs, 1967-1980, undated

Folder 76: Grace Episcopal Church, 1968, 1971

Folder 77: John R. Rausch, 1968-1984

 

Box 3

Folder 78: Guild Theatre programs and clippings, circa 1968-1970s

Folder 79: Clarksville Little Theatre (Indiana) programs, 1969-1975

Folder 80: Cards to Christine Dorr, circa 1960s-1970s

Folder 81: United States travel, circa 1960s-1970s

 

Stored separate

Film 81a: Presidential historic sites with John Rausch, Kodachrome Super 8mm film (digitized), circa 1960s-1970s

 

Box 3 continued

Folder 82: General, 1972, 1976-2005, undated

Folder 83: New York and Pennsylvania theater programs, 1972, 1974, 1976

Folder 84: Cursillo, 1973-1987

Folder 85: Christine Dorr general, 1973-1982, 1992, 2019

Folder 86: Louisville Orchestra programs, 1974-1974, 1980

Folder 87: New York City music programs, 1975

Folder 88: Christ Church Cathedral, 1975, 1980-1981, 1984, 2000

Folder 89: Iroquois Amphitheater programs, 1976

Folder 90: Churchill Downs ephemera, 1977-1978

Folder 91: Kentucky Opera Association programs, 1977-1979

Folder 92: Beef ‘n’ Boards Dinner Theatre, Simpsonville, circa 1970s

Folder 93: Cards from friends, circa 1970s-1980s

Folder 94: Correspondence – Christine Dorr to Sam, circa 1970s-1981

Folder 95: Correspondence – Jane Dorr and Christine Dorr to Sam, circa 1970s-1980s

Folder 96: Kentucky travel, circa 1970s-1980s

Folder 97: Cherokee Triangle Designers House and Garden Tour, 1980

Folder 98: Actors Theatre programs, 1980, 1982, undated

Folder 99: Correspondence from Bill and Cathy, 1980-1984

Folder 100: Ray, 1981

Folder 101: Atherton High School Class of 1961 reunion biographies, 1981, 1996, 2001, 2006

Folder 102: Washington, D.C. trip, 1982 January

Folder 103: Dignity/Integrity, 1982-1994

Folder 104: Education for Ministry, 1984-1989

 

Stored separate

Items 104a-b: Digitized lectures on Christianity and homosexuality, 2 DVDs, 1988-1989

 

Box 3 continued

Folder 105: Clinton-Gore campaigns, 1992, 1996-1997

Folder 106: AIM Board of Directors, 2009

Folder 107: AIM Board of Directors Personnel Committee, 2009-2010

 

Box 4

Folder 108: AIM Board of Directors, 2010

Folder 109: National Episcopal AIDS Coalition Board Manual, 2010-2013

Folder 110: AIM Board of Directors, 2011

Folder 111: Atherton High School reunions, 2011, 2016

Folder 112: AIM Board of Directors, 2012

Folder 113: AIM – Aaron Guldenschuh-Gatten, 2012

Folder 114: AIM Board of Directors, 2013

Folder 115: AIM Board of Directors, 2014

Folder 116: AIM Board of Directors fundraising (includes born-digital), 2014

Folder 117: AIM Board of Directors nomination forms, circa 2014-2015

Folder 118: AIM Board of Directors, 2015

Folder 119: AIM Board of Directors, 2016

Folder 120: [Closed until 2053] AIM Board of Directors minutes, August 2016

Folder 121: Fairness Campaign, 2016

Folder 122: Memberships, 2016, undated

Folder 123: Fort Knox, 1964-1965

Folder 124: Responses to The Recruit, 1965

Folder 125: Fort Dix, 1965

Folder 126: New York and Philadelphia travel, 1965 January-March

Folder 127: Special Orders, 1966 July 24

Folder 128: Bank employment, 1962-1969

Folder 129: Bank Christmas parties, 1962, 1965-1976

Folder 130: Bank cards, circa 1960s-1981

Folder 131: Bank employment, 1970-1976

Folder 132: Bank promotion, 1981

Folder 133: Crisis and Information Center general, 1981-1992

Folder 134: Crisis and Information Center correspondence, 1988-1992

Folder 135: Catering records, 1990

Folder 136: Catering records, 1991

Folder 137: Catering records, 1992

Folder 138: Catering records, 1993

Folder 139: Catering records, 1995

Folder 140: Catering records, 1996

Folder 141: Catering records, 1997

Folder 142: Catering records, 1998

Folder 143: Catering general, circa 1990-1998

 

Box 5

Folder 144: Christ Church Cathedral employment, 1998-2001

Folder 145: Christ Church Cathedral retirement, 2008

 

Oversized

Folder 146: Basic training, The Finish Line menu, certificates, First National Bank marketing, and Clinton-Gore campaign sign, 1964, 1970-1989, 1996

 

 

Series 2: Charles Raith

Box 5 continued

Folder 147: Handmade Christmas cards by Charlotte Raith, circa 1948-circa 1953

Folder 148: Baby book, 1952-1960

Folder 149: Birth and youth health records, 1952-1970

Folder 150: Youth general, circa 1958-1971

Folder 151: Junior high school, 1966-1967

Folder 152: Church of the Holy Spirit, 1967, 1969

Folder 153: Westchester High School, 1967-1970

Folder 154: Westport High School, 1970-1971

Folder 155: Washington, D.C. trip, 1971

Folder 156: University of Cincinnati, 1971-1977

Folder 157: [Restricted] University of Cincinnati student records, 1971-1977

Folder 158: Correspondence to, 1971-1975, circa 1980s-2007

Folder 159: Raith coat of arms, 1972

Folder 160: [Restricted] Selective service registration records, 1973

Folder 161: Travel and activities, 1974, 1995-2005, circa 2000s

Folder 162: Faith and church, 1980-1999, undated

Folder 163: Archives and Records, 1977-1978

Folder 164: General, 1979-2012

Folder 165: Department of Housing Rehabilitation, 1980-1984

Folder 166: Hancock Building, New Albany, architectural drawings, 1984

Folder 167: Proposed apartments for Limerick neighborhood drawings, circa 1984-1985

Folder 168: Christ Church Cathedral Chapel, circa 1984-1987

Folder 169: Weyland Kramer Group/Louis and Henry Group, 1984-1995

Folder 170: Tingley School apartments, 1985

Folder 171: Religion, art, and architecture, 1987

Folder 172: Louis and Henry Group – Lyndon Fire Protection District, 1988

Folder 173: Louis and Henry Group – Haymarket project, 1988-1989

Folder 174: Christ Church Cathedral renovation, 1991-1999

Folder 175: Louisville Development Authority, 1994-2002

Folder 176: Architectural drawings, 2000, undated

Folder 177: John Milner Associates, 2002-2005, undated

Folder 178: Christ Church Cathedral rededication, 2002

Folder 179: History of the Fabric of Christ Church Cathedral, 2003

Folder 180: Cathedral Commons, 2005-2006

Folder 181: Lewis and Clark Bicentennial ephemera, 2003

Folder 182: 20th century Louisville architecture research, circa 2010s

Folder 183: Locust Grove Cultural Landscape report, circa 2013-2014, 2016

 

Oversized

Folder 184: Omicron Delta Kappa certificate, University of Cincinnati Bachelor of Architecture diploma, Kentucky State Board of Examiners and Registration of Architects certificate, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards certificate, American Institute of Architects certificate of membership, Education for Ministry certificate, Eastern Trail Legacy of Lewis and Clark poster, 1975, 1977, 1981-1982, 1998, 2000s

 

Series 3: Shared

Box 5 continued

Folder 185a-b: Correspondence between Sam and Charles, 1981-1990s

Folder 186: Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky, 1981-2006

Folder 187: Correspondence from June Dorr, 1982-1989, undated

Folder 188: Correspondence from friends, 1982-2009

Folder 189: Correspondence from family, 1983-1998, undated

 

Box 6

Folder 190: Adrian Boyle, 1983-1984, undated

Folder 191: Correspondence from Bill and Cathy Dorr, 1984-1989

Folder 192: Thierman apartment, 1985

Folder 193: Grace Episcopal Church leaving diocese, 1985, 1988

Folder 194: 1380 South Sixth Street, 1987-2008

Folder 195: House Blessing, 1987 July

Folder 196: Christmas and New Year’s Eve log, 1987-2000

Folder 197: Kentucky Historic Preservation Tax Credit, 1987, 2011

Folder 198: Correspondence from Bill and Cathy Dorr, 1990-1998

 

Stored separate

Items 199: Audio letters from Bill and Cathy Dorr on 4 audio cassettes, 1996-1997, undated (digitized)

 

Box 6 continued

Folder 200: Friends’ celebrations, 1991, 1998, 2008-2009

Folder 201: Travel and activities, 1991, 2016, undated

Folder 202: Christ Church Cathedral, 1992, 1996

Folder 203: Christmas letters from Sam and Charles, 1992, 1999, 2004

Folder 204: Old Louisville Holiday House Tour Victorian Tea, 1993-1996, undated

Folder 205: Old Louisville Garden Tour, 1997-1998, 2004-2005, 2014

Folder 206: St. James Art Fair Food Booth, 1997-2001

Folder 207: Loan, 1998

Folder 208: Old Louisville Holiday House Tour, 1999

Folder 209: Political bumper stickers, circa 1990s-2000s

Folder 210: Correspondence between Sam and Charles, 2000s-2010s

Folder 211: New Years Open House, 2000

Folder 212: Death of Andrew Aloysius Fuzzymuzzle, 2003 March

Folder 213: Old Louisville Holiday House Tour, 2004

Folder 214: Paris trip, 2006

Folder 215: Jul and Charlotte Raith 60th anniversary party, 2008

Folder 216: Fairness Campaign 10th anniversary events, 2009

Folder 217: General Convention, 2009

Folder 218: Clippings – Gay Pride, 2009-2010

Folder 219: Wedding, 2009-2010

Folder 220: France trip itineraries (all born-digital), 2011

Folder 221: Chris Dorr and Will Parker wedding, 2013

Folder 222: Chris Dorr and Will Rouse Party, 2014

Folder 223: Meriwether reunion, 2015

Folder 224: [Closed until 2053] Correspondence with friend, 2019-2020, undated

Folder 225: Celebrating Sam (includes born-digital), 2021

 

Subject Headings

Dorr Family.

Dorr, June Mitchell, 1907-1989.

Dorr, Samuel F., 1943-2021.

Dorr, William Meriwether, 1896-1978.

Mitchell Family.

Raith, Charles S., 1952-

Raith, Charlotte Thuenen, 1924-2017.

Raith, Julius E., 1925-2019.

Rausch, John R., 1932-1984.

 

Administration of estates – Kentucky – Jefferson County.

Aging.

AIDS (Disease) – Religious aspects.

AIDS activists.

AIDS Interfaith Ministries of Kentuckiana, Inc. (Louisville, Ky.)

AIDS organizations.

Alcohol.

Architects – Kentucky – Louisville.

Architecture, Domestic – Kentucky – Louisville.

Basic training (Military education)

Black people – Kentucky – Louisville.

Boards of directors – Kentucky – Louisville.

Business enterprises – Kentucky – Louisville.

Childhood – United States.

Christ Church Cathedral (Louisville, Ky.)

Christmas.

Depressions – 1929 – United States.

Derby City Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. (Louisville, Ky.)

Dignity/Integrity of Louisville, Inc. (Louisville, Ky.)

Episcopal Church. Diocese of Kentucky.

Episcopalians – Kentucky – Louisville.

Erotica.

Fairness Campaign. (Louisville, Ky.)

Families, White – Kentucky – Louisville.

First National Bank (Louisville, Ky.)

Gardens – Kentucky – Louisville.

Gay men – Kentucky – Louisville.

Gay rights – Kentucky – Louisville.

Grace Episcopal Church (Louisville, Ky.)

Homosexuality – Religious aspects.

House of Ruth (Louisville, Ky.)

Jews – Kentucky – Louisville.

LGBTQ+ Christians.

LGBTQ+ couples – Kentucky – Louisville.

LGBTQ+ movement.

LGBTQ+ relationships.

Locust Grove (Louisville, Ky.)

Love-letters – Kentucky – Louisville.

Mental health – Kentucky.

Nonprofit organizations – Administration – Kentucky – Louisville.

People with disabilities – Kentucky.

People with disabilities – Services for – Kentucky – Louisville.

Poetry.

Prisoners – Correspondence.

Protestants – Kentucky – Jefferson County.

Rape.

Seven Counties Services, Inc. (Louisville, Ky.)

Sex.

Substance abuse – Kentucky.

Theater – Indiana – Clarksville.

Theater – Kentucky – Louisville.

United States. Army – Military life.

Western State Hospital (Hopkinsville, Ky.)

World War, 1939-1945 – United States.