Faulkner Morgan Archive Awarded $900,000 Grant!
The Faulkner Morgan Archive, (FMA) has been awarded $900,000 in grant funds from the Mellon Foundation, the largest grant in our organization’s history.
For eleven years, FMA has worked to make Kentucky’s LGBTQ stories visible—from national exhibitions and partnerships to local collaborations. Our goal has always been to demonstrate that LGBTQ history is integral to Kentucky’s identity. Thanks to past support from the Mellon Foundation, FMA has made major strides over the last four years in professionalizing its staff and expanding its collections, programming, and support base. With this support from the Mellon Foundation, the FMA will build on the work of our 2016 Kentucky LGBTQ Historic Context Narrative, funded by the National Park Service, to significantly enhance the visibility and representation of important LGBTQ historic sites across Kentucky. These efforts will center underrepresented groups in Kentucky history.
“Our goals have always been long-term. Each National Register nomination, each tour, and each oral history collected contributes to a permanent cultural infrastructure that will continue to grow beyond the life of this grant. We hope these new initiatives will inspire Kentuckians with exciting ways to incorporate a broader narrative into their understanding of local history.”
Grant funds will support Following the Sweet Evening Breeze: Mapping Kentucky’s LGBTQ Landscape, a three-year, four-part initiative designed to inscribe Kentucky’s LGBTQ history onto the physical and cultural landscape of the Commonwealth. Building on more than a decade of work, this project will:
Sustain and grow FMA’s organizational capacity
Nominate LGBTQ Kentucky sites to the National Register of Historic Places
Expand FMA’s Pride of Place LGBTQ history tours to new regions across the state
Deepen our outreach to Kentucky’s underrepresented communities
Together, these efforts will create a map of Kentucky’s queer history that records the courage and creativity found in LGBTQ Kentuckians’ experiences while making their stories accessible to future generations.
FMA Welcomes Natalie Warren As New Collections Manager
This generous funding from the Mellon Foundation has also allowed us to expand by filling a critical need for a Collections Manager to oversee our growing archive. This new position will be responsible for processing new materials, managing FMA’s existing collections, and identifying potential new acquisitions and gaps within the archive.
We are pleased to announce Faulkner Morgan Archive’s new Collections Manager, Natalie Warren! Natalie has been a passionate intern and dedicated volunteer for FMA, and we look forward to seeing the impact that she will have on ensuring our collections remain professional and accessible.
MEET OUR SPRING
2026 INTERN!
We are so excited to have Emily McDonald join the Faulkner Morgan Archive team as our Spring 2026 Collections Intern! Emily is an archivist with a strong passion for LGBTQ collections.
During this internship, she will focus on improving our website collections and ensuring that they are useful, informative, and accessible for anyone interested in learning more about Kentucky’s LGBTQ History!
To help you get to know Emily a little better, we sat down for a fun and insightful Q&A session. Check out our blog to hear what she had to say!
HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH!
As a reminder that Black history is a huge part of Kentucky's LGBTQ history, our traveling exhibition Here, Black, Femme, & Queer is now on display at ArtFarm through February 24! You can learn more about this exhibit on our website
UPCOMING EVENTS
Here, Black, Femme, & Queer Closing Reception
February 19 from 6pm - 8pm
1123 Winchester Rd., Lexington, KY
Join us for a closing reception for Here, Black, Femme, & Queer, along with another exhibit Hammering Towards Becoming: Metalworking Trans-Masculinities, at Artfarm!
Wikipedia
Edit-A-Thon
February 28 from 1pm - 4pm
300 N Broadway, Lexington, KY
Join us at the Transylvania University Library to help us create and update pages for LGBTQ Kentuckians, combatting their marginalization and erasure from the history of our region!
