Exhibiting Regional LGBTQ History in Dallas, Texas Page: 80
This article is part of the collection entitled: UNT Scholarly Works and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries Special Collections.
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completed in 2015. Additionally, Special Collections maintains the
digital archive of newspapers published from 2004-present day (Dallas
Voice, 2014). As part of Special Collections' agreement with The Dallas
Way, all collections contributed to the archive by their organization would
be digitized as funding allowed. To date, The Dallas Way has contributed
over $60,000 in funding. This has led to a dramatic increase in the number
of LGBTQprimary sources available on the Portal to Texas History and
the UNT Digital Library. As of March 2020, Special Collections has nearly
12,000 LGBTQitems available for view on the Portal to Texas History,
with that number ever increasing (The Portal to Texas History n.d.).
The focus on digitizing LGBTQcollections has allowed Special Collections
to easily utilize this content for social media posts throughout the year,
highlighting milestones and anniversaries. Though Special Collections
is part of a larger institution, they have their own Facebook and Twitter
accounts managed by staff within the department. These accounts serve
not only as a means to share basic information about the department, but
are also a key way to communicate new collection acquisitions, digitization
milestones, and research opportunities for all collecting areas. While
Special Collections utilizes social media platforms to promote all collecting
areas, there has been a major push to share the LGBTQcollections, in an
effort to both stay connected with the community and to let potential
researchers know what types of materials are available in these collections.
In 2017, Special Collections curated an exhibit, Threads of Remembrance, to
commemorate the 30th anniversary of the creation of the AIDS Memorial
Quilt. Drawn from the archive of the Dallas Metroplex Chapter of the
NAMES Project Foundation, the exhibit includes information on Dallas'
efforts in displaying and adding to the AIDS Memorial Quilt, as well as
photographs of quilt panels that were donated through the organization,
honoring local people lost to AIDS and AIDS complications through theearly 2000s. This exhibit was displayed in the Special Collections Reading
Room on UNT's campus, as well as through an accompanying digital
exhibit (University of North Texas 2018).
As UNT Special Collections established a reputation as a responsible
steward of LGBTQhistorical materials, more collections have been
acquired. Being recognized as a good steward is significant for people
considering a donation of LGBTQ archives. Since LGBTQpeople
have traditionally been marginalized, there is prevalent fear among
LGBTQcommunity members that their histories will be marginalized as
well. However, frequent engagement with LGBTQpeople at events and
exhibits has helped to demonstrate the library's dedicated and ongoing
interest in preserving LGBTQhistory. The LGBTQArchive has been a
valuable tool in many scholarly and journalistic works, as well as a resource
for visual artists and filmmakers. UNT Libraries was credited for research
assistance in the 2013 film Dallas Buyers Club.
LGBTQ Archival Materials in Pride Month Exhibits
Though Special Collections is part of a larger institution, and must focus on
supporting the needs of students and faculty, they have a wider reach
like many similar institutions and must "welcome and serve a broader
community of scholars and researchers" (Harris, Weller 2012). The
role of outreach activities for special collections departments to share
their collections has been proven necessary to accomplish their goals
of providing information to researchers, be this outreach through
creating accessible finding aids online, digitization of collections, public
programming, or other related activities. One strong method for special
collections to share their materials with a large audience is by exhibiting
those materials. Placing materials on display and including informative
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Parker, Jaimi & Gieringer, Morgan Davis. Exhibiting Regional LGBTQ History in Dallas, Texas, article, January 9, 2021; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1923506/m1/3/: accessed June 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.