OutHistory

Urvashi Vaid: The Vassar and Boston Years, 1975-83, by Marc Stein
This exhibit focuses on Urvashi Vaid (1958-2022), a leading LGBTQ activist of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The exhibit includes three components: a roundtable interview featuring three friends of Urvashi’s from her years at Vassar College (1975-79); a roundtable interview featuring four friends of Urvashi’s from her years in Boston (1980-83); and a set of links to publications and other materials by and about Urvashi. Published originally on OutHistory in 2023.
LGBTQ Controversies at the University of Iowa in the 1990s, by Mickey Eliason
Excerpts of a forthcoming memoir, Airing the Dirty Laundry: Queer in the Academy, by a former faculty member at the University of Iowa. Published originally by OutHistory in 2023.
The Lafayette College Queer Archives Project Digital Humanities Site, by Mary A. Armstrong
A discussion of the LGBTQ+ digital humanities site “The Queer Archives Project” at Lafayette College (Easton, PA), with links to oral history interviews and examples of archival artifacts. © Mary A. Armstrong. All rights reserved. Published originally by OutHistory in 2023.
The Homosexual at Williams College, 1971-2021, by Daniel R. Pinello
On the fiftieth anniversary of Daniel R. Pinello's coming out in an essay on the front page of the Williams College student newspaper, OutHistory republished, with the author's permission, Pinello's work.
The Gay Academic Union: The Proceedings of Its First National Conference in New York City, 1973, by John D'Emilio
OutHistory presents the proceedings of the November 25, 1973 Gay Academic Union Conference, with a new introduction by John D'Emilio, who was also a GAU founder. "The Universities and the Gay Experience," this 105-page document, includes keynote addresses by Barbara Gittings and Martin Duberman. Published on OutHistory on April 22, 2016.
Queer History of Colleges and Universities
A collection of links to OutHistory projects and other materials on LGBT history in higher education, along with a timeline on Columbia University and a bibliography of sources. First published on OutHistory in 2021.
LGBTQ Life in Watauga County, North Carolina, 1969-2009, by Kathryn Staley
This exhibit is adapted from Staley, Kathryn. “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Life at Appalachian State University.” Master’s Thesis, Appalachian State University, 2009.
Homophobia in Mississippi, 1958, by Jonathan Ned Katz
In 2015, OutHistory published this original document discovery, a homophobic 1958 report by the President of Mississippi Southern College (now the University of Southern Mississippi) in Hattiesburg. The exhibit includes the memoir of Anne Nunnally, a young female student called into a dean's office and asked about friends' sex lives. A fictionalized version of Nunnally's story is presented by Cindy Crohn.
Fraternities, Sex Between Men, The Closet, 1993, by Thomas Glave
Thomas Glave was a student at Bowdoin College when he published what turned out to be an inflamatory essay in the Bowdoin student newspaper, The Bowdoin Orient, on February 19, 1993 (p. 15). OutHistory reprinted that essay with Glave's permission in 2017.
"Where Perversion Is Taught": The Untold History of a Gay Rights Demonstration at Bucks County Community College, May 9, 1968, by Marc Stein
An exhibit on a 1968 student protest at Bucks County Community College after the college president cancelled an event featuring Mattachine Society New York leader Richard Leitsch. Published originally on OutHistory in 2021.
Hunting Homosexuals at Southern Miss, 1955-1965, by Jonathan Ned Katz, Douglas Bristol, and Andrew Israel Ross
OutHistory presents 92 pages of previously unpublished documents on the hunt for homosexuals, sex “deviates,” and “perverts,” 1955-1965, by the president and deans of Mississippi Southern College (now the University of Southern Mississippi), Hattiesburg. The documents are analyzed by two historians at the university, Douglas Bristol and Andrew Israel Ross, after an introduction by Jonathan Ned Katz. Published originally by OutHistory in 2016.
LGBTQ Life in Iowa City, Iowa, 1967-2010
A timeline of events, pictures, and documents chronicling the evolution of LGBTQ life in Iowa City.
Bleeding Blue, White, and Rainbow in State College, PA, 1969-2010
The author of this feature on LGBTQ life at Penn State asked to remain anonymous. Published October 23, 2013.
Corvallis and Oregon State University Gay Activism, 1969-2004, by Thomas Kraemer
This exhibit describes post-Stonewall gay activism at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon and events that motivated the formation of the first officially recognized gay student group at OSU in 1976.
LGBT Identities, Communities, and Resistance in North Carolina, 1945-2012, by David Palmer and His Students
A project produced by thirty-three students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of their requirements for the advanced undergraduate seminar U.S. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Histories. The project was developed with the intent to enrich popular understandings of modern American LGBTQ histories through the lens of a state underrepresented in this area of scholarship. Entries are grouped topically. For more information about the collection, the course, or individual entries, contact the course instructor David Palmer at palm@email.unc.edu.
Forty Years of History in the Heartland: UNL and Lincoln, Nebraska, 1967-2010, by Pat Tetreault
An exhibit about the University of Nebrasks, Lincoln, and Lincoln, Nebraska, compiled from organizational minutes and files, personal communications, and media articles. Some of the online research of the Daily Nebraskan archives was conducted by Jacy Farris.
Queer Youth: On Campus and in the Media, by Sharon Ullman and Her Students
This exhibit focuses on LGBTQ+ activism on college and high school campuses and representations of queer youth in the media. The project was researched by Bryn Mawr and Haverford students for a class on the history of sexuality in America, taught by Sharon Ullman. First published by OutHistory in 2012.