CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte Pride has launched a new intergenerational project to document local LGBTQ and Pride history, in partnership with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC), the organization shared. The new project will pair youth, ages 13-22, with senior members of the LGBTQ community ages 55-plus, using micro oral histories as a medium for chronicling local history and connecting LGBTQ young people with their community’s elders.
The project will recruit and train high school- and college-aged young adults on the ins-and-outs of performing an oral history interview, organizers added. Young individuals will be matched with senior LGBTQ community members, who will have the opportunity to share their personal stories and experiences in Charlotte. Seniors will also have the opportunity to contribute photographs, documents and other memorabilia to the project. The final culmination of the project includes an online exhibit with audio of the oral histories and galleries of digitized memorabilia, as well as a panel discussion featuring young people and community elders.
The project is presented by Charlotte Pride, working in tandem with the staff of UNCC’s J. Murray Atkins Library Special Collections, which houses the King-Henry-Brockington LGBTQ Community Archive. The project is funded in part by the Charlotte Lesbian & Gay Fund. Oral histories, documents, photographs and other items collected during the project will be featured in the online exhibit, a traveling exhibit and also preserved in perpetuity at the Atkins Library.
Those interested in participating in this project are encouraged to fill out this interest form online. Once completed, Charlotte Pride staff will follow-up with interested parties and connect them with next steps.
info: charlottepride.org.