While Charlotte’s Pride Festival and Parade — the largest annual parade in Charlotte and the largest LGBTQ+ pride event in the Carolinas — may be over, Pride season certainly is not. Pride celebrations in the two-state region extend all the way into November, presumably concluding with Matthews Pride in the Park in Stumptown Park on November 15. The point is not just that celebrations continue for months, but why they do.
Pride celebrations highlight the joy of being able to show up as our full and true selves. Sparked by the Stonewall rebellion of 1969, they are also calls to action to continue to fight for the equity all citizens deserve to enjoy.
That history, along with all of the individuals, issues and stories that make up that history are just as important to remember. Now more than ever, while books that support the inclusion of the multiple identities that make up our nation and our world at large are banned from schools and public libraries, having access to such history is of paramount importance. It’s a privilege that Qnotes, like so many others, are proud to be a part of.
Telling the stories of a community that’s had to stand in the shadows for mere survival and is often ostracized and oppressed in the daylight is no easy endeavor. However, with the assistance of many organizers and contributors, there are two projects making sure Southern LGBTQ+ history isn’t erased.
UNC-Charlotte’s J. Murrey Atkins Library is home to an expansive archival collection. The University Archives is considered the collective memory of UNC Charlotte with a goal of ensuring the preservation of documents, photos and other materials that document the university’s origins and activities as well as the achievements of its faculty, students, staff and alumni.
UNC-Charlotte English Professor and Associate Dean of Curriculum and Student Success Dr. Janaka Lewis stressed the importance of their archives to Qnotes.
“Whatever records we don’t keep will disappear and the stories with them. The time and attention that goes into preservation, storage and access of impactful stories is necessary to keep them alive.”
The University Archives includes official University records, publications, photographs, oral histories and audiovisual materials in all formats. Materials are broken down into sections that include African-American Life and Culture, Arts and Culture, Civil Rights and Social Activism, Charlotte Mayoral Papers and an LGBTQ Collection.
The LGBT Collection offers visitors a chance to peruse The Barret (Robert L.) Papers: published works that focus on parenting, issues of grief and loss, and clinical services to the sexual minority community. In addition to his professional writing, Barret has been active in promoting social justice, both in his home community, and in the American Counseling Association. Other submissions include a Hartigan’s Irish pub and restaurant memorabilia collection and records from Charlotte’s gay and lesbian film series. Materials within this archive include historical records from the university’s predecessor institutions: the Charlotte Center of the University of North Carolina and Charlotte College.
All materials date from 1946 to the present. It’s comprehensive and quite inclusive.
Then, there’s Invisible Histories, a locally housed archive specifically focusing on Southern LGBTQ communities. Invisible Histories was founded in 2017, and its first collection, the works of Dr. Glenda Elliotts, was picked up a year later in 2018. Dr. Elliotts is a professor, counselor and therapist who is most known for starting the Alabama Safe Schools Coalition. The initiative was designed to protect LGBTQ middle and high school Alabama public schools students.
Founded by Joshua Burford and Dr. Maigen Sullivan, who both perform as co-executive directors of the archives, this archive is intentionally focused on the Southern Queer and trans experience. The space contains various sections with space dedicated to hard copy and digital works, textiles and costumes, and a reading room — all with the inspiration of creating an environment that is welcoming to people who have never experienced an archive. Though this archive is housed in Charlotte, Invisible Histories collects submissions from six Southern states (North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Florida) and also supports programs that train and assist people in archiving in seven additional states, giving visitors the opportunity to research, learn and experience records and media from five other states beyond North Carolina. It’s a diverse collection that is unified by Southern queer experience.
“It’s important for a lot of reasons,” says Burford. “So much LGBTQ history goes unstudied and uncollected. From the mid ’80s to the early 2000s, there was a pretty concentrated effort to purge LGBTQ archives and much of the information was destroyed.”
For the archive’s founders, it’s about more than not forgetting and recognition, particularly during this time in history. It’s about returning history to oppressed communities in a manner that empowers them to do something greater.
In reference to the importance of the work and our nation’s current state of affairs, Burford points to a dark time in German history.
“Stage one of fascism has always been to destroy the history of groups people [the government] found objectionable. A significant example took place in the 1930s when one of the first places destroyed was Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld’s library in Berlin. In the ’30s it was the single largest repository of LGBTQ history in the world and it was no coincidence that articles and artifacts were destroyed and the building burned to the ground.”
Right now LGBTQ groups, specifically trans people and people of color, are at a higher risk than we’ve seen in almost 25 years. Moves like the closing of the National Endowment for Humanities and anti-DEI initiatives are all concentrated and specific efforts to make sure no one has access to history. If you can make it look like we were never here — in reality — no one would know we existed. So our work is important.
“We’re doing our part in preserving LGBTQ history and giving it back to the people in the South so that they can know who they are, where they come from, and also so there’s a template for organizing during such an important time. It’s all activism,” Burford concludes.
Both archives play an important role in preventing the erasure of marginalized communities and ensuring that future generations have access to authentic, community-led narratives. Without them, our chances of countering erasure, bias and the loss of our place in the world lessen drastically.
If you care about our future, it’s important to educate yourself and learn about our past. Both Invisible Histories and the J. Murrey Atkins Library offer that opportunity.
If you’re interested in digging deeper, start by visiting their websites, at https://invisiblehistory.org/ and https://library.charlotte.edu/ for more details.
This story is brought to you by Rosedale Health and Wellness and Dudley’s Place.
