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Club Carousel Concert Highlights & Other News

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Kevin Allen | 2 comments

We had two packed houses at One Voice Chorus’ Club Carousel concert last weekend, and a dozen former Club Carousel members were in attendance. Nick de Vos, a Club Carousel alumnus and photographer, took the pictures below.

Calgary Gay History Project’s Kevin Allen provided history narration between choral moments.

Club Carousel Alumni, Nick de Vos and Lois Szabo, with Kevin Allen.

One Voice Chorus receiving standing ovation from audience.

Gavin Caldwell (Piano), Kevin Allen, Lois Szabo (Club Carousel Founder) and Jane Perry (Artistic Director, One Voice Chorus) in front of the recreated Club Carousel logo.

It was a magical day, and the Calgary Hay History Project would like to thank One Voice Chorus for focusing on our city’s gay history in their artistic programming.

In other news, our colleague in queer history, Dr. Aaron Devor, the founder and academic director of the Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria, let us know that their publication, The Transgender Archives: Foundations for the Future, is now a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award in the category of LGBT Nonfiction. Click on the book link for a free PDF copy; it is an absorbing read and exploration of trans histories.

The 27th Annual Lambda Literary Awards–or the “Lammys,” as they are affectionately known–kick off another record-breaking year with the announcement of the finalists. They were chosen from a record 818 submissions from 407 publishers. The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony on Monday evening, June 1, 2015 in New York City.

Lethbridge-based artist and curator Leila Armstrong, is looking to fill her Cabinet of Queeriosities with an open call for submissions. This is the third Queeriosities exhibition, celebrating LGBTQ history, identity, culture, and pride through a diverse range of subject matters and approaches. Let all of the queer artists and historians in your network know that they have until June to submit.

In closing, I will leave you with the final poem of the Club Carousel concert, sourced from the Club’s September 1973 newsletter and written by the editor.

Carousel Capers (Sept. 1973) Back Cover

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Posted in Gay history

Tagged bisexual, Cabinet of Queeriosities, Club Carousel, gay, Gay history, lesbian, One Voice Chorus, queer, transgender, Transgender Archives, University of Victoria

Queer Archives in Canada

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

In working on Calgary’s Queer history, the team has been in contact with others across Canada also conducting LGTBQQ research. It’s exciting to meet people passionate about their own projects, to look at the extensive archives and find those great nuggets of information, and read the amazing stories of courage. The types of archives varies greatly: from institutional collections focused on gender and sexuality, to smaller ones in people’s homes. We’re currently creating a database of existing archives in Canada, and have some interesting highlight to share.

The oldest in Canada is the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives (CLGA). Started in 1973 in a tiny cramped office, the archive has grown to become the largest independent LGBTQ+ archives in the world. Its home in Toronto is literally an old house built in 1858. With a focus on Canadian content, their collection includes personal papers, unpublished documents, publications, audio-visual material, works of art, photographs, posters, and other artifacts. They also host exhibitions. February’s is “Code, Read: Hollywood’s Hays Code and the Queer Stereotypes of the Silver Screen.”

Transgender pioneer Virginia Prince. University of Victoria Transgender Archives

One of the few exclusive transgendered archives is at the University of Victoria. Since 2007 the Special Collections Transgendered Archives has actively been acquiring documents, rare publications, and memorabilia of persons and organizations that have worked for the betterment of transgendered people. The Transgender Archives is accessible to the public, and available to faculty, students, and scholars for teaching and research. The incredible part of this archive is the sheer amount of personal material donated from people across North America. One well-known activist Betty Ann Lind (1931-1998), a founder of the Delta Chi Tri-ESS (Society for the Second Self) chapter of Washington, DC in the early 1970s, the predecessor to the TransGender Educational Association of Greater Washington.

The Neil Richards Collection of Sexual and Gender Diversity at the University of Saskatchewan began as a private collection. Started by its namesake when he was employed by the University Library, Richards developed and help acquire many impressive collections of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender materials, including organizational documents, collections of lesbian and gay pulp literature, magazines and newsletters published in LGBT communities, documentation about theatrical cross-dressing, novels and nonfiction published before 1969, and material on the Gay Rights movement. As of September, 2014, approximately 3,319 titles had been added to the Richards collection.

For more information about Queer archives in Canada, contact us.

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