GSU Library Research Guides: Women's Collections: Subject Guide: Spirituality

Spirituality: Manuscript Collections

Lorraine Fontana Papers, 1947-2014 (Q110)
Lorraine Fontana is an activist for the LGBTQ community and has fought for social justice since her early college days. Her papers, 1947-2014 (bulk 1968-2010), include correspondence, conference materials, flyers, notes, programs and publications, representing her activities in Atlanta, New York, and elsewhere.

Anne Olson Papers, 1965-1995 (W022)
The collection contains materials (pamphlets, flyers, clippings, memos and correspondence) related to Olson's interest in women's rights and support of ERA ratification, 1970-1982, her involvement in the Georgia Women's Political Caucus, 1983, and in the Unitarian Universalist Association, 1970-1981. There is also information on women and labor (Title 29), 1969-1972, copies of the publication Rights and other materials related to the National Civil Liberties Union, 1978-1984.

Alice C. Young Papers,1973-1988 (W061)
Alice C. Young has been involved in various community groups and causes. One of her lifetime commitments has been improving the conditions of women both on and off campus. Correspondence, minutes, agendas, reports, printed materials, photographs and artifacts make up the papers of Alice C. Young. This collection documents her work with the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta.

Spirituality: Oral Histories

Joanna Adams
Born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1944, Adams spent much of her childhood in Meridian, Mississippi. She entered Emory University in 1962 and graduated with a degree in English in 1966. During her senior year at Emory she married her classmate Alfred B. Adams III. Her husband attended Emory Law School and the couple had two children (1968 and 1970). After a few years of teaching at Grady High School in Atlanta, Adams entered Columbia Theological Seminary, graduating with honors in 1979. In the same year, she became Associate Pastor and Minister at Central Presbyterian Church in downtown Atlanta. She held this position until 1986, when she took over as pastor of North Decatur Presbyterian Church in Decatur, GA. In 1991, Reverend Adams was appointed Senior Pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in northwest Atlanta, becoming the only women to hold this position in a parish of this size in the United States. She held the position for ten years. After serving as the Co-Pastor of the Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, she returned to the Atlanta area in 2003. Author of numerous articles and sermons, Adams has served in leadership positions on several church and community boards, including Columbia Theological Seminary and Agnes Scott College.

Sarah Lopez
Sarah Lopez, Ph.D. is a bilingual psychologist in clinical practice in Atlanta since 1982. Her ongoing commitment extends beyond the office to include social/cultural issues that create and maintain suffering such as injustice, violence, and oppression. An early responder to the mental health needs of the AIDS epidemic, she has co-facilitated a weekly pro bono HIV/AIDS therapy group for 21 years.

Anne Olson
Anne Olson was born in Madison Wisconsin in 1934. She received a BS in nutrition from the University of Oklahoma (1956), completed a dietetic internship at the University of Michigan (1956-1957) and earned her MS in dietary administration from the University of Kansas (1962). From 1962 to 1967, Olson was an instructor in nutrition at Emory University's School of Nursing, as well as, in 1965, serving as nutritionist for Quaker House's Project Headstart. In 1974, she became a marketing consultant for the Florida Department of Citrus and from 1974 until her retirement in 1999, she was an administrator in School/Community Nutrition for Georgia's Department of Education. Olson has had a long-standing interest in feminist and human rights issues: She has been an active participant in a number of community organizations, including the Dekalb League of Women Voters (1966-1968) and The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia (1969-1972). She belonged to the International Association of Religious Freedom and the International Association of Liberal Religious Women (1987); was a founding member of Atlanta’s Charis Circle (1996-1998); and served as the co-chair of Human Rights Atlanta (1998-1999). Currently Olson is involved with the Georgia Living Wage Campaign, as well as the Atlanta Living Wage Campaign. Olson has enjoyed a long relationship with the Unitarian Universalist Association, beginning in 1971, when she served on the Board of Directors of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation (1983-1989), and has served in various positions for the Thurman Hamer Ellington Unitarian Universalist Church, Atlanta (1994-1999).