Tag Archives: Gay history

Launch Party for the YYCGayHistory Collection

Posted on October 16, 2024 by Kevin Allen | 3 comments

Yahoo—it’s queer history month! On Tuesday, October 22nd, from 5-8 PM, we will celebrate the accession of the Calgary Gay History Project Collection into the University of Calgary Archives. Please join us for a wine & cheese reception, with short speeches at 6 PM and collection tours throughout.

*Contact archives@ucalgary.ca to RSVP and for more information!*

Presented by Archives and Special Collections, Libraries and Cultural Resources with support from the Calgary Institute for the Humanities, the reception will be at Gallery Hall on the main floor of the Taylor Family Digital Library. Its address on campus is 410 University Ct NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4.

The Calgary Gay History Project’s Kevin Allen’s *first look at the collection* with Archivist Kim Geraldi—image by Andy Nichols, 2024, University of Calgary Archives Photographs, Libraries and Cultural Resources.

We’re delighted that these documents and artifacts are now publicly accessible (and are already being used by researchers)! The collection has been gathered from many community organizations and donors, including: Calgary Outlink, Calgary Pride, Kevin Allen, Stevie Lee Anderson, Jonathan Brower, Kelly Ernst, Matt Gillespie, Richard Gregory, Robert Lawrence, Terry MacKenzie and Kenneth Peach, Neil McMullen, Nancy Miller, Judy Moore, Pam Rocker, Gene Rodman, Joey Sayer, Michael Wright, and several anonymous donors.

*The Calgary Gay History Project Collection. Image by Andy Nichols, 2024.*

Please join us next Tuesday. Everyone is welcome!

{KA}

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Posted in Gay history

Tagged alberta, bisexual, Calgary, Calgary Gay History Project Collection, Calgary Institute for the Humanities, gay, Gay history, Kim Geraldi, lesbian, lgbtq, Libraries and Cultural Resources, queer, transgender, University of Calgary

Be your own queer historian!

Posted on October 4, 2024 by Kevin Allen | 1 comment

October is queer history month in Canada. We want to highlight some local and digital queer history resources that are public and accessible. Curious historians take note!

The new Calgary Gay History Project Collection at the University of Calgary launched during Pride and are already being used by researchers. We’re planning a launch party on October 22 at 5 PM, details TBA.

*Dr. William Bridel, Archivist Kim Geraldi, and the Calgary Gay History Project’s Kevin Allen exploring the collection.* *Image by Andy Nichols, 2024, University of Calgary Archives Photographs, Libraries and Cultural Resources.*

Our colleagues at the Edmonton Queer History Project launched an online digitized queer Alberta magazine collection. Of particular interest to Calgarians are Outlooks, Modern Pink, and A.G.L.P. They’ve kindly pledged to add more Calgary publications in the near future.

The Central Library has hard copies of queer publications Outlook, Clue! and QC Magazine in their fourth-floor Local History collection (as well as circulating copies of Our Past Matters: Stories of Gay Calgary).

Gay Calgary and Edmonton magazine has their back catalogue digitized and online (2003-2019).

*Cover August 2006 of GayCalgary Magazine*

Many significant queer archives are digitizing some of their holdings and creating online exhibits—notably the ArQuives in Toronto and the Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria.

When you are travelling, seek out the queer histories of the places you are visiting. We just went to Spokane, Washington, last week and discovered Spokane Pride’s queer history project online—fascinating!

*1950’s newspaper advert from the Spokane Pride History Project*

Finally, when you have discovered something interesting, share it! You can use the social media tags @2SQHMCan and #2SQHMCan to link up with a national conversation about queer history.

{KA}

1 Comment

Posted in Gay history

Tagged 2SQHMC, A.G.L.P., ArQuives, bisexual, Calgary, Calgary Gay History Project Collection, CLUE Magazine, edmonton queer history project, gay, gay calgary magazine, Gay history, Kim Geraldi, lesbian, lgbtq, Modern Pink, Outlooks, Pride, QC Magazine, queer, Spokane Pride, transgender, Transgender Archives, William Bridel

YYC Pride Roundup

Posted on September 6, 2024 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

Phew. Queer history was popular during Calgary Pride 2024!

The Calgary Gay History Project was featured in The Scene (twice) and on CityTV. A couple of podcasts dropped featuring interviews with Kevin Allen: Late in ’88 and Passing Time With Craig.

To round things out, we hosted gay history walks, a book signing at the Pride Festival, and Pride at Shelf Life Books, which featured history, poetry, and drag.

*Pride at Shelf Life Books: Kevin Allen, Dogiichow, Osmo Cis, Skylar Kay and Bret Crowle on Sept 4, 2024.*

If you missed the sold-out Involve: Stonewall & Carousel event last year, Lawrence Interior Design, just released a video which documents the conversation between Jason Brooks, Martin Boyce and Lois Szabo.

*Martin Boyce and Lois Szabo in conversation at Involve: Stonewall & Carousel*

Finally, until September 23rd, catch the pop-up exhibition about the LGBT Purge at the Central Library. The Canadian government investigated thousands of 2SLGBTQI+ employees, military personnel, and members of the RCMP during the Cold War. Many of these employees and personnel were forced to resign, ruining lives and careers. But they fought back, and survivors won a major class action lawsuit against the government in 2018. The exhibition “Love in a Dangerous Time” is an appetizer for the Canadian Museum of Human Rights’s large-scale museum show in Winnipeg next year.