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 | | Karen C. Sendziak | | | Inducted 2007 | | | Photo: DOUGLAS BIRKENHEUER | | Karen C. Sendziak, 50, for twenty years of documenting and preserving the history of Chicago’s LGBT communities and advancing LGBT culture through her work with Gerber/Hart Library. | |
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| Karen C. Sendziak began as a volunteer at theGerber/Hart Library in November 1987 and Ksince then has served in numerous
capacities. Since May 1994 she has been the
Gerber/Hart historian, and she served on the board
of directors while chairing the library’s Archives
Committee in 1995–96. She has been archives
curator from 1999 to the present. Her volunteer
work at Gerber/Hart is a testament to her dedication
to preserving LGBT history and fostering LGBT
culture. There are very few jobs at the library to
which she has not lent her time, skill, and efforts
over the past two decades. Whether it be fundraising efforts, publicity tasks, the
coordination of volunteers, programming—whatever needs doing, she does.
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| Sendziak has served as president of the library’s board of directors since January 2004,
presiding over an era of increased financial stability and a renewed commitment to
Gerber/Hart’s educational mission through the staging of historical exhibitions and
programs. Recently, the library has presented exhibitions on the 25th anniversary of the
recognition of AIDS, the Gay Games, the LGBT and non-LGBT presses, and the
editorial cartoons of the late Daniel Sotomayor. | |
| Over the years, Sendziak has devoted an enormous amount of time to assisting
researchers at all levels—high school students to tenured professors, journalists and
videographers. In 2001, she assisted John Poling, a master’s degree student, with his
thesis on Mattachine Midwest. He later developed the thesis into an article, “Standing
Up For Gay Rights,” which in 2005 became the first LGBT-themed article ever
published in Chicago History, the quarterly journal of the Chicago History Museum
(CHM). A decade earlier, Sendziak curated an exhibition of Gerber/Hart materials at
the CHM in conjunction with the “Long Road to Freedom” traveling exhibit mounted
by The Advocate. | |
| Chicago’s LGBT history has been Sendziak’s passion. She has researched the lives of
Henry Gerber and Pearl Hart and published articles about both individuals. She
assisted the City of Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development in its bid to
designate as a Chicago landmark the building at 1710 North Crilly Court, which was
where Henry Gerber resided when he founded the Society for Human Rights in 1924.
The City Council approved the landmark designation in 2001, and a plaque at that
address was dedicated in June 2002. Sendziak was also instrumental in having a
Chicago Tribute Marker of Distinction installed in 2002 in front of Pearl Hart’s
longtime home at 2821 North Pine Grove Avenue, noting Hart’s many contributions to
life in Chicago. | |
| Thanks to Sendziak’s efforts, in 1996 the Gerber/Hart Library began funding the
biennial Gregory Sprague Prize for the Committee on Lesbian and Gay History of the
American Historical Association. The prize is named in honor of Gerber/Hart founder
Gregory Sprague. | |
| Sendziak was one of the first two recipients of Gerber/Hart’s John H. Mueller
Volunteer Service Award in 1994. In 2003, she received a Larry Osburn Trailblazer
Award from the Bailiwick Repertory Theatre. She has served the Gerber/Hart Library,
one of Chicago’s most vital institutions, with intense devotion for 20 years and is thus
one of the key individuals responsible for having nourished and protected this
important resource for the benefit of all Chicagoans. | |
| This biography is as of the induction date. It has not been updated. |
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