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Abstract: OutSouth 2.0: Navigating the Next Stage of LGBTQ+ Oral Histories in a Polarized World
How do we resuscitate a project in a changed world? The OutSouth LGBTQ+ Oral History Project aimed to document and promote the lives of LGBTQ+ individuals in the Southern region of the United States. The project, created through a partnership between the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History and the University of Kentucky's Office of LGBTQ* Resources, ran from late 2017 to early 2019. Ultimately, OutSouth boasted over 50 full-length interviews, many of which are publicly accessible through the Kentucky Oral History Database. These stories have been viewed and utilized by participants, students, faculty, researchers, and more. However, since the project's inception, the world has changed significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and escalating political divisions, particularly around LGBTQ+ communities. These changes pose renewed challenges for the OutSouth project and broader LGBTQ+ oral history.
The global oral history community has already been discussing the challenges that oral history faces today amid growing political tensions. This presentation explores the revival of the OutSouth LGBTQ+ Oral History Project, specifically, and addresses the complexities and opportunities that may accompany recording a new of interviews in a politically divided region of the country and a politically contentious time. The shifting socio-political landscape makes it imperative that OutSouth reconsiders the project’s purpose, efficacy, and impact. How can the project reflect and meet the evolving needs and concerns of LGBTQ+ communities? How do considerations such as confidentiality evolve in light of changing societal norms and threats? This becomes especially important when it comes to considering the ways LGBTQ+ communities, individuals, and their images have been targeted online. The first phase of OutSouth relied on focused community outreach but, looking back, how can the project more effectively represent the diverse life experiences of LGBTQ+ people? How can academic archives and libraries best empower community storytelling?
The revival of the OutSouth LGBTQ+ Oral History project serves as a reminder of the dynamic nature of storytelling. This presentation focuses on the project’s renewed ethical responsibility and the opportunities that provides for adaptation. As libraries and scholars face unique challenges in demonstrating their value amid political polarization, projects like OutSouth are crucial in showing how archives and libraries can amplify marginalized voices and ensure the preservation of underrepresented histories.
The global oral history community has already been discussing the challenges that oral history faces today amid growing political tensions. This presentation explores the revival of the OutSouth LGBTQ+ Oral History Project, specifically, and addresses the complexities and opportunities that may accompany recording a new of interviews in a politically divided region of the country and a politically contentious time. The shifting socio-political landscape makes it imperative that OutSouth reconsiders the project’s purpose, efficacy, and impact. How can the project reflect and meet the evolving needs and concerns of LGBTQ+ communities? How do considerations such as confidentiality evolve in light of changing societal norms and threats? This becomes especially important when it comes to considering the ways LGBTQ+ communities, individuals, and their images have been targeted online. The first phase of OutSouth relied on focused community outreach but, looking back, how can the project more effectively represent the diverse life experiences of LGBTQ+ people? How can academic archives and libraries best empower community storytelling?
The revival of the OutSouth LGBTQ+ Oral History project serves as a reminder of the dynamic nature of storytelling. This presentation focuses on the project’s renewed ethical responsibility and the opportunities that provides for adaptation. As libraries and scholars face unique challenges in demonstrating their value amid political polarization, projects like OutSouth are crucial in showing how archives and libraries can amplify marginalized voices and ensure the preservation of underrepresented histories.