The Early Years
An February 1976 article in the BiCollege News detailing the opening of a basement office in Jones.
After the founding of the Bryn Mawr-Haverford Gay People's Alliance (GPA) in the fall of 1975, the group gained an office in the basement of Jones not long after. According to the above ad from the Bi-College News, the GPA annouced its office the following semester.
The lounge served not only as a meeting space for the GPA, but also as a home to a growing collection of literature. This library served an important function, for it provided members with access to knowledge and representation that was difficult to find at that time, and perhaps impossible for students before this time. The office also served as a place where people could drop in and talk to whoever might be staffing it. The nature of these visits is further revealed in the earliest of the GPA Logbooks.
As the audio from Steve Aurand '78 shows, the original lounge of the GPA was important in its early days to help the group gain its footing in the community. As time wore on, the lounge's purpose, function, and goals shifted to meet the community's and GPA's needs.
A February 1979 advertisement for open office hours.