Description
This collection documents the life of John E. Teamer (1941-1994), a gay Black public high school teacher and community activist.
It includes personal correspondence; ephemera; videotapes; photographs of friends, family and events that date back to the
1940s; and personalia.
Background
John Eric Teamer was born April 26, 1941 in Asheville, North Carolina to John Anderson Teamer and Leontine Franklin Teamer.
He died of AIDS on December 21, 1994. Teamer graduated from Stephens-Lee High School in Ashville, got his B.A. in Biology
from Blackburn College in 1963 and an M.A. in Education from Atlanta University in 1974. In between college and graduate school,
he served in the Peace Corps in the Philippines from 1963 to 1965. Teamer taught high school for over 26 years -- from 1971
to 1992 at Woodrow Wilson High and the Ida B. Wells Continuation School in San Francisco. A tireless civil rights and AIDS
activist, Teamer was a founding member of Black and White Men Together and served as co-chair of the National Association
of Black and White Men Together. He was first board chair of the National Task Force on AIDS Prevention and a board member
of the Black Coalition on AIDS. Teamer as a founding board member of the Gay-Lesbian Tennis Association and a founding board
member and acting director of Kapuna West Inner City Child-Family AIDS Network.
Extent
3 linear feet (3 cartons)
Restrictions
Copyright has been transferred to the GLBT Historical Society.
Availability
Collection is open for research with the exception of one folder of medical records in Carton 3 and mailing lists and other
records holding the names, addresses, and/or phone numbers of individuals which are restricted for 20 years. Please contact
the Managing Archivist for more information.
Funding for processing this collection was provided by the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).