Martin Lee reminiscence of Tim Mayhew, 2020

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Lee, Martin
Title
Martin Lee reminiscence of Tim Mayhew
Dates
2020 (inclusive)
Quantity
0.0177 GB (1 digital file)
Collection Number
6340 (Accession No. 6340-001)
Summary
A personal reminiscence of Tim Mayhew by his former partner and longtime friend Martin Lee.
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

No restrictions on access.

Request at UW

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Martin Lee is a former partner and longtime friend Tim Mayhew. Raised in a strict religious community, he was excommunicated for coming out as gay and moved to Seattle where he met Mayhew.

Historical BackgroundReturn to Top

Tim Mayhew was a gay community activist in Seattle throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. He became an archivist of the gay community, collecting materials related to gay activism from Seattle groups he was involved in and from many other organizations. Mayhew donated his collections (see Related Collections) to the University of Washington Special Collections in the 1990s. Maxwell Timothy Mayhew was born in Detroit on January 1, 1941 to Maxwell and Jeanne Mayhew. His family lived in Denver, then Salt Lake City, and Salmon, Idaho before moving to Spokane, Washington where Mayhew attended high school. He played flute and piccolo in his high school marching band and in the Husky Marching Band at the University of Washington. He majored in Russian language and linguistics, but interrupted his studies to volunteer in the Army, where he served as a medic stationed at Fort Lewis. After his honorable discharge, he returned to the UW, where he earned a BA and completed graduate studies.

Mayhew was a member of the Seattle Gay Alliance (SGA) in the early 1970s. He served as the chair of the SGA Education Committee circa 1972-1975 and as SGA's first lobbyist in Olympia, Washington in 1973. He helped found Seattle's first Gay Community Center in 1971 and was also involved with the Gay Liberation Front. For several years in the 1970s he served as Seattle editor of the Northwest Gay Review, a newspaper based in Portland, Oregon. He was a member of the ACLU of Washington and served on its Sexual Minorities Committee around 1977 to 1980. Among his many public testimonies and statements are the Position Statement on Homosexual Civil Liberties and Position Statement on Marriage for the ACLU of Washington in 1971. He lobbied in Olympia again circa 1981. In 1993 he helped found the Harvey Muggy Lesbian/Gay Democratic Organization.

Mayhew died on April 30, 2017 in Seattle.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

A personal reminiscence of Tim Mayhew by his former partner and longtime friend Martin Lee. The reminiscence includes photographs from his personal collection, many that he received from Mayhew, as well as scanned images of documents from Mayhew’s life.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Alternative Forms Available

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Restrictions on Use

Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections. presented in the records.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Gay activists--Washington (State)--Seattle--Biography
  • Gay community--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)
  • Same-sex marriage--Washington (State)--Seattle--History

Personal Names

  • Lee, Martin, 1953-
  • Mayhew, Tim

Corporate Names

  • Dorian Society of Seattle
  • Seatle Gay Alliance
  • Seattle Gay Liberation Front

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names
    • University of Washington. Libraries. Special Collections Division (curator)