William Way LGBT Community Center is gearing up to help create a transgender history exhibit this summer and is hosting two “collective curation” events to gather exhibit items from members of the trans community.
The first archive workshop will take place 6:30-9 p.m. April 16 and the second, 12:30-3 p.m. April 20, both at the center, 1315 Spruce St. The workshops are free and food will be provided.
The exhibit, “Defiant Archives: Trans Histories of Existence, Resistance and Brilliance,” will run July-September and will focus on Philly trans histories and activism. The exhibit will be comprised of items from individual members of the community, the existing John J. Wilcox Jr. LGBT Archives at William Way and the Trans Oral History Project.
All self-identified transgender and gender-nonconforming people are invited to participate by bringing their own materials such as event fliers, photos, clothing, etc.
Ultimately, a committee will determine what items end up in the final exhibit.
“Our hope is that these workshops will bring people in the trans community together and get them involved in an effort that helps tell their story,” said Sharron Cooks, a trans activist and advisor and an organizer of the archive workshops.
Cooks said she would like this exhibit to mirror the National Constitution Center’s upcoming exhibit, “Speaking Out for Equality: The Constitution, Gay Rights and the Supreme Court,” in the way that personal artifacts and stories are presented to tell a cohesive narrative.
“We want to include powerful first-person stories and artifacts from the trans community in the archives and exhibit, similar to how, for example, testimony from original Reminder Day protesters and a dress worn by a protester are part of the exhibit at the Constitution Center.”
For her part, Cooks says she plans to bring press clippings related to recent events such as articles on Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania’s highest-ranking transgender public-office holder, and the late trans activist Jaci Adams, who helped eliminate gender-identification requirements on SEPTA trans passes, among other achievements.
“Ten years from now, people are going to be able to look at the progress we are making today and acknowledge how far we have come,” said Cooks.
For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/defiantarchives.