Franklin Abbott oral history interview, September 30, 2011

Item — othertype: Oral History

Identifier: AbbottF_20110930

Staff Only

Franklin Abbott oral history interview

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Scope and Contents

Interviewed by Wesley Chenault. Abbott first discusses his grandparent’s and parent’s lives in Alabama. Then he describes the move from Birmingham to Buffalo to Nashville. He explains the challenges of his high school years and the freedom he gained while at Mercer College. Abbott describes his politicization with racial and gender justice while in school and details his coming out experiences in his mid-20s. He reflects on lesbian and gay organizing in Atlanta and the work he did in spiritual and faith-based communities in the 1970s. Abbott shares his experiences with AIDS in the 1980s. He talks about organizing, traveling and literary work that was both lost and came out because this time-period. He concludes with reflections on community.

Dates

Creation: September 30, 2011

Creator

Abbott, Franklin (Interviewee, Person)

Restrictions on access

Oral history available for research.

Biographical Note

Franklin Abbott was both in 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama and raised in Buffalo, New York and Nashville, Tennessee. He attended Mercer College in Macon County in the 1960s, and later attended graduate school where he qualified as a therapist. For decades, Abbott has been associated with the Radical Fairies adn Gay Spirit Visions, both spiritual gay men’s groups. In addition to serving the community through spiritual practices and therapy, he is a writer and co-founder of the Atlanta Queer Literary Festival. Abbott's books include Boyhood: Growing Up Male, Men and Intimacy: Personal Accounts, and Pink Zinnia: Poems and Stories. Abbott continues both his literary work and therapy practice.