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"Word of Mouth" How The Trans+ Community Found Itself

About


Summary:

Word of Mouth is a project of the Chair in Transgender Studies and is about how some Trans+ communities and networks developed in North America throughout the latter half of the twentieth century. This exhibition draws from the Trans Activism Oral History Project.

The Trans Activism Oral History collection is a project of the LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collaboratory, founded in 2014 by historian Elspeth Brown and funded by the Social Science & Humanities Research Council of Canada.

In 2020, the oral histories were donated to the Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria Libraries and The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives. Aaron Devor, the Chair in Transgender Studies at the University of Victoria, is the project lead for Word of Mouth.

The Trans Activism Oral History project:

The Trans Activism Oral History collection was a project of the LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collaboratory. The collection consists of video and audio interviews with leading Trans activist elders from across North America. Founded in 2014, the LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collaboratory is funded by the Social Science & Humanities Research Council of Canada.

The Trans Activism Oral History Project’s purpose was to record elders’ history of activism on behalf of trans people and communities in order to establish and preserve trans-specific and trans-positive primary source historical narratives for future generations.

The interviews were collected in 2019-2020. The oral history project team consisted of: Elspeth Brown (PI), Aaron Devor (Collaborator), Evan Taylor (Interviewer), and Eli Holliday (Project Assistant and Editor). The oral histories were donated to the University of Victoria Libraries Transgender Archives and The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives in 2020.

Kinds of material:

In order to establish and preserve Trans-specific and Trans-positive primary source historical narratives for future generations, the Trans Activism Oral History Project recorded Trans+ elders’ oral histories of activism on behalf of Trans+ people and communities. The collection consists of video and audio interviews, collected from 2019-2020, with leading Trans+ activist elders from across North America.

Supporting material for Word of Mouth is primarily from the Transgender Archives at UVic Libraries, with additional support from The ArQuives and the Digital Transgender Archives. The Transgender Archives is committed to the preservation of the history of pioneering activists, community leaders, and researchers who have contributed to the betterment of Trans+ and other gender-diverse people. Since 2007, we have been actively acquiring documents, rare publications, and memorabilia of persons and organizations associated with activism by and for Trans+ people.

Our records span over 160 meters or 530 linear feet (1.5 football fields long), go back over 120 years, and are in 15 languages from 23 countries on six continents. Our collections comprise the largest trans archives in the world. We are accessible to everyone, free of charge.

A special thank you to Mariette Pathy Allen, Efrain John Gonzalez, Kimberly Nixon, and Gerald Hannon who generously provided additional photos for Word of Mouth. Thank you for your decades long support of Trans+ people and communities.

Technical background:

This site was built using Blacklight, an open source, Ruby on Rails, discovery and access engine for digital collections. The exhibit was created with the Spotlight for Blacklight plugin.

History of logo design and font:

The logo and masthead for the site was designed by Michael Radmacher and draws from the Trans Activism Oral History Project logo.

Use and reproduction of digital materials:

The University of Victoria Special Collections and University Archives provides digitized materials from their collections to support the teaching and research needs of the university community and partners. Users may reproduce (print or download) items in this collection for research, teaching, or private study. For all other uses, contact speccoll@uvic.ca or 250-721-8257.

Citation of digital materials:

UVic Libraries requests that materials reproduced from their digital collections are properly cited, regardless of use. Citation should include: title of the item; name of the collection / fonds it belongs to; “University of Victoria Special Collections and University Archives"; “Transgender Archives digital collection”; URL for the page the item was found; date the item was viewed. For multi-page items, include the name of the whole resource, along with the page number, if available. You may find all of this information in the beige box beneath each image.

Contacts:

Questions or comments about the Word of Mouth digital exhibit can be sent to UVic's Chair in Transgender Studies, transchair@uvic.ca.

Questions or comments about the use, reproduction, or citation of materials represented on this site can be sent to Special Collections at the University of Victoria Libraries, speccoll@uvic.ca.

Trans Activism Oral History Project Thank You Card

Project team:

Chair in Transgender Studies

Aaron Devor, Chair in Transgender Studies
Michael Radmacher, Administrative Officer
Jaye Watts, Office Assistant
Eve Ryan, Work Study Student
Amelia Smith, Digital Exhibit Designer

A special thank you to Amelia Smith, Digital Exhibit Designer, who designed the exhibit’s framework, structured dynamic content, wrote an engaging narrative, and who suggested the title, “Word of Mouth.” Thank you for your dedication and contributions. For more information about Amelia and her work, visit her website and blog: http://www.notyouraveragecistory.com/

LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collaboratory
Elspeth Brown, PI and Collaboratory Director (2014-present)
Evan Taylor, Interviewer (2019-2020)
Eli Holliday, Graduate Research Assistant (2019-2021)
Andy Huynh, Communications Assistant (2020-2021)
Alisha Stranges, Collaboratory Research Manager (2021-present)

UVic Libraries
Tiffany Chan, Developer/Analyst, Digital Scholarship
Karen Dykes, Metadata Supervisor, Digital Collections
John Frederick, Library Assistant, Special Collections and University Archives
Lisa Goddard, Associate University Librarian, Advanced Research Services
Sonja Kujansuu, Library Assistant, Special Collections and University Archives
Samantha MacFarlane, Special Projects Administrative Officer and Co-Editor in Chief, KULA: Knowledge Creation, Dissemination, and Preservation Studies
Dean Seeman, Head, Metadata
Jaqui Thompson, Library Assistant, Special Collections and University Archives
Christine Walde, Grants and Awards Librarian & Librarian for Gender Studies, Theatre, Visual Arts and Writing
Lara Wilson, Director of Special Collections and University Archivist

Additional content
Mariette Pathy Allen & Jesse Egner
Efrain John Gonzalez
Kimberly Nixon
Gerald Hannon
The ArQuives – Canada's LGBTQ2+ Archives
Digital Transgender Archives