California Humanities has announced the recent round of Humanities For All Quick Grant awards, and The Central Coast Queer Archive Project has been chosen for its video oral history program.
The Central Coast Queer Archive Project (CCQAP) is a collaborative and community-based oral history project that documents the lives of elderly LGBTQ+ residents on the California Central Coast. “Half way between the historic meccas of Los Angeles and San Francisco, members of the LGBTQ+ community have found San Luis Obispo and made their homes and lives in this coastal region,” notes project co-director, David Weisman. “Why did they choose this area, and what were their successes and challenges related to the overall LGBTQ+ experience of the second half of the 20th Century and the first decades of the new millennium? Those are questions we will explore in the coming year.”
Working since 2018, the production team started by restoring and transcribing vintage video interviews done by GALA in 2005. Most have been posted to the website and the remaining will be added later this spring as the transcriptions are edited. In addition, the team, conducted its first original contemporary interview, featuring Lisa Dean, who co-owned and managed Breezes, San Luis Obispo’s last openly queer bar in the 1990s.
The project directors are now reaching out to senior members of the local LGBTQ+ community who might be interested in sharing their stories with the broader community. Although the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed the rollout of the project, the anticipated schedule is to locate participants and plan the interviews this spring with hopes that increased vaccination rates and a slowing of the spread will allow for in-person interviews, conducted according to appropriate health guidelines, later in the spring and into the summer. Interviews will be recorded using state-of-the-art high definition video processes to insure their longevity.
This project also provides mentorship for local queer and trans youth by centrally involving them in the work of designing, conducting, and processing oral history interviews, thereby by facilitating transformative intergenerational exchanges between youth and their elders. The resulting video interviews will be publicly available through a curated website and will be featured as part of a virtual public forum facilitated by The Gala Pride and Diversity Center, and moderated by local experts in LGBTQ+ culture and history. The CCQAP seeks to bring awareness to these often ignored and marginalized communities. Programming will occur in the latter part of 2021.
“Projects like this really help enlighten and enliven our local LGBTQ community,” adds Weisman. “For example, we celebrated the premiere of the video interview with Lisa Dean by holding an evening banquet at the current Sushiya Restaurant, which had been the site of Breezes. Word went out, and ultimately nearly 50 people showed up for a delightful evening of memories and nostalgia. The event was also a catalyst, and the buzz around the room turned to the question, ‘hey, why don’t we have such a queer public space in SLO today, and what might be done to change that?’ That’s the sweet spot where historical investigation can lead to action.”
The CCQAP is honored and grateful for this new grant award. “These projects will bring the complexity and diversity of California to light in new ways that will engage Californians from every part of our state, and, will help us all understand each other better,” said Julie Fry, President & CEO of California Humanities