In 2015, Lois Johnson, former president of the Boston Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), asked Sarah Boyer for her help interviewing former DOB members. Together they interviewed 20 lesbians who were part of the emerging gay liberation movement. Johnson, who died in 2020, wanted a book on the history of Boston-Cambridge DOB.

Coming Out, Becoming Ourselves: Lesbian Stories from the Boston Daughters of Bilitis, 1969-1999, ensures that these stories of courage and love for other women are part of a historical legacy in the struggle for all queer people to live their lives without fear.

In this author talk, Sarah Boyer will give a presentation about the book, which will then be followed by a discussion and question and answer session.

Sarah Boyer served as oral historian at the Cambridge (MA) Historical Commission from 1997 to 2015. She authored four books on Cambridge neighborhoods and one on World War II and the Home Front in Cambridge. Boyer was inspired to record the extraordinary stories of “ordinary” folks to ensure their voices would be heard and their lives celebrated.

Generously sponsored by the Friends of the Thomas Crane Public Library