THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT
Dale McCormick
“Trade and technical jobs are the avenue out of poverty for women.”
First openly gay member of the Maine State Legislature, elected in 1990 to the first of three terms in the Maine Senate. The Women’s Liberation Front and The Gay Liberation Front, University of Iowa. The first Journeywoman carpenter in the nation in 1975. State Treasurer of Maine. Director of the Maine State Housing Authority. Founder of Women Unlimited.
Interviewed by Judy Waxman, February 2021


Photo. Against the Grain, A Carpentry Manual For Women, written and illustrated by Dale in 1977.
More About Dale:
- All Things LGBTQ Interview Show: El-Farouk Khaki, Ann McMan, Dale McCormick (begins at 39:25) March 18, 2021
- HHRC Celebrates LGBTQ History Month: Interview with Dale McCormick Oct 14, 2020
- Women Unlimited Revisited by Emma Klein
- Maine Law’s LGBT+ Law and Policy student group hosted Dale McCormick November 2018
- Essay by Dale McCormick for Out and Elected in the USA
- A legacy of activism: Iowa City Feminist Reunion recalls struggles, triumphs, The Gazette, July 17, 2017
- Dale McCormick talks with John McKerley about how she used confrontation and the law to end sexual harassment on her job site during the 1970s.
- Archives
- On C-SPAN
- Wikipedia