On October 11 on the first floor of Schaffer Library, the opening ceremony for the exhibit “Out in the Archives: An Exploration of LGBTQ+ History at Union College” was held and presented to the Union community for public viewing. The student curator of the project, Gabby Baratier ‘25, spoke at the ceremony detailing the work of their display, something they spent the summer researching as an Inaugural Ruth Anne Evans Research Fellow.
Baratier initially became inspired to take on this research project as a way of exploring the origins of queer organizations and activism on campus, something Baratier has enjoyed researching as they connect their modern-day experiences on campus to those of the past. In the display, Baratier presented three cases containing queer historical artifacts, photos, and newspaper articles representing distinct periods in Union’s history of LGBTQ+ people on campus.
The first case presented some of Union’s first public documentations of queerness at the college, with the early integration of drag performances in Union’s theater program, the Mountebanks, highlighted alongside the achievements of early LGBTQ+ professors Hugh Allen Wilson and Donald Thurston.
The second case houses Union’s response to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 90s, a particularly difficult time for gay men, who faced public backlash for causing/spreading the virus. This has been a common misconception used to denounce homosexual intercourse, and harm the reputation of the LGBTQ+ as a whole. Using historical Concordiensis articles, both sides of the debate over homosexuality are displayed, as more conservative perspectives questioned the nature of homosexuality, while progressives counteracted these views through advertisements of support groups that provided an anonymous safe space for queer students on campus.
In the final case, we begin to see a shift in attitudes at Union College, as the administration becomes more accepting, queer students on campus become recognized for their achievements, and queer organizations on campus celebrate their identity through LGBTQ+ pride events.
All in all, the exhibit as a whole shows how queer students, faculty, and staff have all paved the way for queer students today to feel welcomed and accepted into our current Union College community. Moreover, the exhibit fulfills the hard work of curator Gabby Baratier, as they highlighted the unique impact of LGBTQ+ figures on campus, and sought to challenge the normative ways in which we think about gender and sexuality. With the accomplishment of this exhibit, Baratier hopes that similar LGBTQ+ research will continue at Union and encourages anyone interested to contact them with any further questions at [email protected].
