To kick off Queer History Month, Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, 6500 N. Clark St., hosted the second annual Queer History Symposium on Oct. 4. The event was sponsored by Skittles, and dozens of students, queer history enthusiasts and archivists were in attendance.
Gerber/ Hart is the largest library and archive of its kind in the Midwest, housing tens of thousands of books, documents and more. It is also a free lending library; anyone older than 13 can become a patron.
The symposium happened after 10 months of federal action to defund media and archive and library services, and to remove mentions of trans and bisexual people from government websites. In the welcome note, Community Outreach Manager Jen Dentel said Gerber/Hart has a role to play in pushing back against these moves.
“We believe these attacks on LGBTQ+ people and libraries are linked—and that making our history accessible is a key part of resisting this erasure,” she said.
The day at the symposium was full—in one room, there were four panel sessions, a keynote and a final note.
Each panel highlighted a different aspect of either archiving or the unique capabilities of Gerber/Hart to support in the production of or research for a particular project.
Resisting queer erasure was at the center of many presentations; researchers and artists from across disciplines are concerned about the threat the federal administration poses to queer freedom, rights and history.
In the keynote speech, experimental documentarian Jose Luis Benavides emphasized the potential of libraries and archives to help queer people see themselves in the media as proof they aren’t alone. In doing so, he said archives are capable of so much more.
“Everyone at this Queer History Symposium is using archives to imagine and create a better, more inclusive and safer future,” he said. “Every one of us panelists today is using archives to unpack the essence of queerness, our ability to create kinship, even across the vastness of time itself.”
The event sold out; many panelists and audience members alike stressed the urgency of keeping queer histories, experiences and voices in the face of federal threats to their safety and freedom.
In the morning sessions, artists and researchers alike shared their experiences drawing directly from archives for their projects.
Emrys Brandt, Katia Ellise Klemm and Rachel Perzynski spoke on the “Reconstructing the Past” panel and Bri Robinson, James Hosking and Colin Lucero-Dixon presented the “Art in the Archives” panel.
They each understood the archives as a sort of portal to the past: there are clues to be found in historical materials that can help tell amore complete story of the present.
Reconstructing narratives and the complex lives of people who are represented by the archives is delicate work. Hosking, a documentary photographer and digital collagist, discussed using archival material with “signs of life,” such as coffee stains, water marks and wrinkles, to create intricate collages.
“That’s part of a wonderful thing of working the archive where things are donated and not rejected because they’re not pristine,” he said. “[It’s] because they bear the marks of people whose lives they were a part of, and how they interacted with those pieces.”
Colin Lucero-Dixon presented a segment of their documentary which featured the Belmont Rocks—and how they were paved over and turned into the AIDS Garden. The Rocks were a place that queer people could be out and visibly queer, and Lucero-Dixon said it’s important to find and remember those moments in history.
“There’s evidence that you can find that people were very adamant about being publicly who they were, and even if it meant being dangerous,” they said. “I think that’s really inspiring; you can find instances from any decade of people really wanting to present themselves to the world.”
The afternoon sessions pointed out unique subsets of materials that can be found in Gerber/Hart’s and other archives. Researchers and artists Larry Wolf, Cynthia E. Hanifin and Liz Mason presented “Queer Zines,” an homage to the historical significance of zines in queer history and opportunities to participate in community zine making through Zine Club Chicago.
The “Archival Sleuthing” panel featured researchers Emma Faist, John Pollard and Sharon Levy. They presented what they uncovered when they each dove down their respective rabbit holes, searching for clues from queer history. Faist for example presented the history of bisexual activism in Chicago, focusing especially on the work of local activist Mikey Oboza.
Author/Historian John D’Emilio presented the closing remarks.
Despite the many threats queer artists and archivists face, D’Emilio said, organizations like Gerber/Hart—and events like the symposium—hold some of the solutions.
“We get to feel the wonder of the parts of our past that are being saved,” D’Emilio said. “And that are being used by a whole set of researchers to tell stories and communicate visually in ways that help us understand the past and make decisions in the present that will shape our future.”
Editor’s note: Reporter Jess Savage’s girlfriend, Katia Klemm, was one panelist at the symposium.