Bruce R. Voeller: Home

In 1966, NYBG Bibliographer Harold William Rickett published the Wildflowers of the United States. Considered a literary treasure filled with descriptive text on 1,700 species and 1,200 colored photographs, the 6-volume set was sponsored by the Garden and published by Rockefeller University. To commemorate the first volume, Rockefeller Institute Professor Bruce R. Voeller created the exhibition catalog, Three Centuries of Botany in North America. Voeller studied biochemistry, genetic and developmental biology and became one of the youngest professors to teach at Rockefeller. Interested in plant physiology and phytocytology, he worked alongside author Paul F. Cranefield, and prepared the 33-page book list that concentrated on botanical history. After its publication, a limited edition of 200 copies were given to select institutions, three copies remain at Mertz Library.

Voeller married his wife Kytja and had three children, but after time, he disclosed his sexual orientation to his peers and loved ones. Doing so changed his work trajectory, focusing more on activism and social justice research, advocating for the freedom of those in the LGBT community. Launching the country’s oldest national LGBT rights organization, National Gay Task Force (NGTF), Voeller held meetings in New York City and the White House where several members voiced their thoughts and opinions to governor officials' opposition to gay rights. 

Applying his biology background and becoming a pioneer in AIDS research, Voeller was also the president of the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA). With an objective to ban discrimination in employment, housing and public sectors, the GAA organization were known for their public protests and sit-ins at City Hall Park, Saint Cathedral Church and George Washington Bridge. The organization believed in unity and that gay men and women were a “viable minority group” (The Record, 1973). Voeller proceeded to advocate, raise organizational funds, and created the educational campaign “We Are Your Children” to show “the American people who we really are and that we are not afraid of the truth” (The Record, 1977). 

Voeller’s cultural impact resulted in the American Psychiatric Association's removal of homosexuality on the list of mental disorders and the renaming of the GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency) disease to AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome).  Inducted in the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor at the Stonewall Monument, Bruce Voeller brought awareness to the myths and falsehoods regarding the LGBT community. An iconic figure, Voeller's lobbying efforts helped shape the gay rights movement.