Keep an eye on this thread, where I’ll be live tweeting about @AASLH session Hidden in Plain Sight: Finding and Telling Queer history #AASLH2020 #queerhistory #LGBTQhistory

Conference buddy & I are ready for this session at #AASLH2020! Panelists Danielle Bennett, John-Duane Kingsley, and Gwendolyn Stegall will share case studies from their experiences in a discussion on how to identify & integrate queer narratives into our own sites #queerhistory

Panelist and Session Chair Danielle Bennett is an independent historian and museum professional with research interests in queer history. Danielle’s work is particularly focused on queer narratives in connection with historic house museums. #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Starting w/ panelist John-Duane Kingsley (he/him), a consultant for Twisted Preservation & a collections/ furnishing specialist for @HenryFordEstate. His work ranges from interpretation of queer narratives to study of historic & contemporary craft/design. #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

John-Duane discusses the Queer in the Gilded Age tour with Twisted Preservation--a Gilded Age mansion with complex architectural features/layout. They decided to use the space as a metaphor for hidden queer experiences at the time #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

The use of the laundry space, for example, was a metaphor for "airing the dirty laundry"--a clothesline was strung up with newspaper reports on sodomy/love letters/archival ephemera of queer history #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

John-Duane discusses other aspects of queer history for ideas to be explored in the space: the design of an over-the-top campy salon as well as characterizations of the dandy vs. the docent when touring the house #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Some of the ideas ultimately weren't used in the mansion, but it helped establish the notion of exploring queer history in a place that didn't necessarily have an obvious queer component #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Second tour: Life and Death at the Tenement, with idea of creating tour focusing on various public health crises. There was an apartment in the tenement with two Latino men, but very little info about their lives/experiences #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Consulting team encouraged embracing ambiguity and being transparent about the lack of sources and the prejudice from records at the time, rather than promoting a definitive interpretation #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Moving on to Danielle Bennett and discussion of the Alice Austen House Museum ( @iAliceAusten), home to notable glass negative and street photographer Alice Austen #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Austen was well-known for photography but also lived with "companion" Gertrude Tate in house for 30+ years--they were married in every way they could be without being "official" #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Austen's relationship with Gertrude was ignored for a long time, but she appears in Alice Austen's photography along with different expressions of gender--photos of women embracing each other, Alice & friends in men's clothing #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Bennett emphasizes the importance of Gertrude's presence in Alice Austen's life and the explorations with gender in her photography as part of her identity #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

The house started to explore Gertrude and her role in Alice's life by putting up a picture of Alice and Gertrude together (no big content changes yet) --> beginning a series of projects to explore connection to queer history #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

The house worked a lot with @nyclgbtsites to create projects like #FlatAlice where a flat cutout of Alice was taken to other queer historic sites #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

The house is continuing the work; more exhibits now rather than parlor recreations & use of grant funds to create online content for access during COVID--check them out! #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Next up: Gwendolyn Stegall (she/her) is a junior architect at PBDW Architects with a focus on preservation projects and has served as a research consultant for @nyclgbtsites. Gwendolyn is a scholar of lesbian bar history in New York. #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Stegall gives us a definition of lesbian bars: an establishment selling alcohol whose primary clientele was lesbians #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Much of the history was deliberately hidden, need for alternate research methods & lots of speaking with community members: oral histories, memoirs, archival materials (lucky to have lots of materials in NY) #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Stegall talks about proto-lesbian bars in the 1910s-40s, such as woman-owned tearooms, lesbian performers in the Harlem Renaissance like Gladys Bentley, downtown cabarets with lesbian performers #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Lesbian history in 1950s-60s: bars were heavily monitored by the police & raided--Women's House of Detention became known as the "country club" #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Continuing the 1950s-60s: increasing identification with subculture and butch/femme dynamics, rise of lesbian media like Ann Bannon books, bars mostly run by mafia--unclear how this happened, racist boundaries in who was allowed to enter bars #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Rise in activism during 1970s-80s: lots of early activist orgs very male-heavy --> lesbians created their own groups like Lavender Menace (which were often very white). Salsa Soul Sisters one of earliest African American and Latina lesbian groups! #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Stegall says lesbian bars were thriving in this era and increasingly run by lesbians—enough bars to have bar awards and advertising; Bonnie and Clyde’s was the first lesbian-run lesbian bar #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

1990s-2000s was lesbian bar heyday, with lesbians more visible on national scale. There were roaming parties that changed locations; Clit Club was one of most popular—sex positivity very important in this era #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

What happened? Lesbian bars are on the decline, and gentrification is a big killer for lesbian bars. What remains: Henrietta Hudson, Cubbyhole, Ginger’s Bar—future remains uncertain with COVID #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Returning to Bennett for closing thoughts/remarks: she talks about how the experiences/stories of cisgender & white & upper/middle class are often privileged--we should be thinking about whose stories are being told! #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Bennett shares photos of Rosa Parks house & Bayard Rustin Residence & Pauli Murray Center--how do we preserve houses of people who rent? The way that we preserve houses in U.S. privileges people with land #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Bennett also shows (now demolished) building with apartment that was collectively rented by trans individuals & sex workers--incredible stories there that we can't necessarily preserve now #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Bennett: there are lots of historic preservation projects happening if you dig for them! Stegall highlights the importance of oral histories as a way to preserve evolving stories of queer life #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Question about how panelists have seen resistance to their work in the field: Kingsley recalls resistance due to cultural disconnect--they offered two tour options (one more immersive) as a way to ease disconnection #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Question about any work being done beyond the L & G of LGBTQIA: Bennett says elements of this work are being done but it's rarer to see it in history spaces--more likely to find it in arts & cultural institutions #AASLH2020 #queerhistory

Thank you so much to Danielle Bennett, John-Duane Kingsley, and Gwendolyn Stegall for a fascinating session!! #AASLH2020 #queerhistory