Queer Newark Oral History Project
Since coming to Rutgers University-Newark, I’ve been an advisor, interviewer, and curator for the award-winning Queer Newark Oral History Project. As a community-based and community-directed initiative supported by Rutgers University-Newark, QNOHP is dedicated to preserving the history of LGBTQ people and communities in Newark, New Jersey.
The project has been marked by a threefold commitment to public programming, academic research, and the development of a publicly accessible archive of oral history interviews and documents concerning the rich history of LGBTQ Newark. Centering the voices of LGBTQ, working-class people of color, QNOHP pushes back against a white, middle-class history of queer life.
At Home in Newark: Stories from the Queer Newark Oral History Project
At Home In Newark: Stories from the Queer Newark Oral History Project tells the stories of how LGBTQ Newarkers have claimed space for themselves in bars, balls, houses of worship, street corners, community centers, and artistic venues in the face of poverty, violence, illness, racism and discrimination in a multimedia exhibit. Through their activism, creative expression, and determination, they have made Newark their home.
This traveling exhibit was curated by students in Dr. Mary Rizzo’s American Studies and History class, Place, Community and Public Humanities at Rutgers University-Newark, in collaboration with a graphic design class, a team of community advisors, the Newark LGBTQ Community Center, and the Rutgers-Newark LGBTQ & Intercultural Resource Center.
The exhibit has been displayed at Audible headquarters, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Rutgers University-Newark. The exhibit is available to borrow. Contact queernk@newark.rutgers.edu to learn more.
Experience At Home in Newark
To hear clips from At Home In Newark, visit our Soundcloud playlist. The images below show the topics, themes, and beauty of the exhibit.
