ODS S1:E5 Mary Anne Adams

Out Down South Podcast
S1:E5: Mary Anne Adams
Founder & Executive Director, ZAMI NOBLA

The first season of Out Down South will showcase the stories of 10 LGBTQ+ Atlantans, told in their own words.

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.

South, 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.


Show Notes:

Out Down South is brought to you by the Atlanta LGBTQ+ History Project and part of the WUSSY Podcast Network.

Hosted by Rachel Garbus (@goodgraciousrachel)

Produced by Jon Dean (@jondeanphoto), Rachel Garbus (@goodgraciousrachel), and Sam Landis (@iam_samlandis).

Episode 5 was edited by Jonathan Thomas Maiocco (@jonathanthomasmaiocco)

Our Original Podcast Theme Music was created by our sound designer, Jonathan Thomas Maiocco (@jonathanthomasmaiocco)

Podcast graphics created by Sam Landis (@iam_samlandis)
Photographed by Marilyn Ocasio Nieves. 
Mary Anne Adams is pictured in her home in East Point.