ODS S1:E5 Mary Anne Adams
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Mary Anne Adams
Founder & Executive Director, ZAMI NOBLA
In this episode, we feature Mary Anne Adams, a lifelong activist and organizer, a brilliant academic, and a beloved member of the Atlanta lesbian community. Mary Anne is the Founder and Executive Director of ZAMI NOBLA, the National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging, which provides resources to aid the coming-of-age process for Black lesbians over the age of 40.
She founded the Audre Lorde Scholarship Fund, which awards funding to LGBTQ scholars of color. A sixteen-year breast cancer survivor, Mary Anne is an advisory board member at Emory University Winship Cancer Institute. She serves on the Atlanta Mayor’s LGBTQ Advisory Board, and the Wharton Lab RISE Advisory Board, and is a Commissioner and Board Chair of the East Point Housing Authority. A social worker and public health researcher, Mary Anne has also led research and published scholarly articles on the health and care of older Black lesbians.
Our project did not record this oral history interview with Mary Anne Adams. This interview was recorded in 2015 as part of the Southern Lesbian Feminist Activist Herstory Project, which collects oral histories and written life stories from lesbian feminists across the Southeast. The Southern Lesbian Feminist Activist Herstory Project has an amazing archive of interviews, stories, and resources about Southern lesbian and feminist history: to learn more and explore their archive, head to slfaherstoryproject.org. We’re very grateful to them for sharing their collection with us.
Mary Anne Adams was interviewed for this oral history by Lorraine Fontana, who’s one of our Honored Subjects in the Atlanta LGBTQ+ History Project, as well as an amazing lesbian, feminist, and activist in her own right.
Out Down South is brought to you by the Atlanta LGBTQ+ History Project and is part of the WUSSY Podcast Network.
Oral History Recorded with Lorraine Fontana for The Southern Lesbian Feminist Activist Herstory Project. Learn more at slfaherstoryproject.org.
Hosted by Rachel Garbus (@goodgraciousrachel).
Produced by Jon Dean (@jondeanphoto), Rachel Garbus, and Sam Landis(@iam_samlandis).
Episode 5 was edited by Jonathan Thomas Maiocco (@jonathanthomasmaiocco) who also created our podcast theme music (unveiled in this episode).
Podcast graphics created by Sam Landis
Photographed by Marilyn Ocasio Nieves.
Mary Anne Adams is pictured in her home in East Point.
Project interns - Alyssa Zhang, Alex Campo, Hunter Buchheit, and Oli Turner.
The podcast is funded by a Georgia Humanities grant and individual gifts from LGBTQ+ history lovers like you. If you would like to support the project, you can by visiting: atlantalgbtqhistoryproject.org/donate
Stay up to date with the Out Down South Podcast and Atlanta LGBTQ+ History Project on social: instagram.com/atllgbtqhisproj/ or @atllgbtqhisproj on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
About the Project:
The Atlanta LGBTQ+ History Project is a multimedia initiative to gather, share, and preserve the history and life stories of LGBTQ+ communities in Georgia and across the Southeast. Through oral history, photography, and archival materials, we bring the voices and stories of LGBTQ+ Atlantans to life.
Explore the project through museum exhibitions, the Out Down South podcast, live and virtual panel series, and online materials. All project materials are archived at Georgia State University Library’s Special Collection & Archives. Find out more at
Learn more by visiting: atlantalgbtqhistoryproject.org
We are grateful for the partners of the podcast and project: WussyMag, The LGBTQ Institute at The National Center for Civil and Human Rights, and the special collections and archives at Georgia State University Library where all of the oral histories from this project will be archived.
Want to record your own oral history, or interview a friend or family member?
StoryCorps is an organization that provides people across the country with the opportunity to record and preserve the stories of their lives. You can record an interview with a friend or family member at their Atlanta recording booth, or remotely through the StoryCorps app. Find out more here: storycorps.org/atlanta/
You can also reach out to us at hello@atlantalgbtqhistoryproject.org to nominate others you think we should include in the
Partner recognition:
We are grateful for the partners of the podcast and project: WussyMag, Out Front Theatre Company, and the special collections and archives at Georgia State University Library where all of the oral histories from this project will be archived.
A full episode transcript to be uploaded at a later date.