The Lafayette Queer Archives Project
I am founder and director of the Lafayette College Queer Archives Project (QAP), an interdisciplinary digital humanities project and collaborative venture between the Lafayette Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program and the Lafayette Libraries. Using the open source publishing platform Scalar, the QAP networks Lafayette LGBTQ+ alumni oral histories with 160+ archival artifacts to uncover an institution’s Queer history, improve visibility and campus climate, and intentionally infuse LGBTQ+ content across the curriculum.
***In 2020, the Lafayette College Queer Archives Project was nationally recognized with the Primary Source Award for Access from the prestigious Center for Research Libraries.***
The QAP leadership team is Dean of Lafayette Libraries Dr. Charlotte Nunes, College Archivist/Co-Director of Lafayette Special Collections and Archives Elaine Stomber, and myself. Since its inception, many Lafayette student-scholars have been key participants in the creation and expansion of the QAP.
Related Publications
Armstrong, Nunes, and Wellnitz, “Queer Pasts, Queer Futures: The Lafayette College Queer Archives Project” In Transforming the Authority of the Archive: Undergraduate Pedagogy and Critical Digital Archives. Ed. Andi Gustavson and Charlotte Nunes. Lever Press, (2023): 114-144.
“The Lafayette College Queer Archives Project Digital Humanities Sites,” OutHistory, October 2023.
“Lafayette College Faced Its Antigay Past by Saving Its LGBTQ History,” The Advocate, May 2019.