John Fryer was a groundbreaking gay psychiatrist best-known for his appearance in full disguise at the 1972 American Psychiatric Association (APA) convention. His speech at the convention is credited with convincing the APA to remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1973. As a psychiatrist Fryer worked largely with gay men, lesbians, people who abused drug and alcohol, and those who were coping with death. He was also a professor at Temple University School of Medicine, and organist and choirmaster at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Germantown. The John Fryer collection consists of his personal and professional papers from 1876 to 2003 and is divided into five series: General files, Patient records (restricted to researchers until 2078), Photographs and audio-visual materials, Printed matter, and Miscellaneous papers.
Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]