Meet Our Spring 2026 Collections 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. Here's what she had to say:

Q: How did you first hear about the Faulkner Morgan Archive?

A: I first learned about the Faulkner Morgan Archive while presenting at the Midwest Archives Conference. While attending a session on LGBTQ+ history and archives, I listened to Josh and colleagues from the University of Louisville discuss their respective archives and their collaborative efforts to increase visibility and preserve LGBTQ+ history across Kentucky. That presentation was my introduction to the work being done at Faulkner Morgan.

Q: What inspired you to apply for this internship?

A: During his presentation at MAC, Josh made a statement about visibility in uncertain times that really stayed with me. He said, “We have the privilege of being hyper visible when so many cannot be seen. As such, we will ensure we are seen.” Hearing that, along with learning about the projects they were working on and the impact they were having within their communities, sparked something in me. In that moment, I realized I wanted to be part of this work and help preserve LGBTQ+ history in a meaningful, active way.

Q: What excites you most about working with the Faulkner Morgan Archive?

A: I am genuinely overjoyed at this opportunity and deeply excited by the chance to contribute to the archive during its early foundation. In our initial discussions about my role, we talked about ways I could help increase the visibility of the collections through website work and small curated displays. The idea of making the archive and its stories as visible and accessible as possible truly motivates me. I am grateful to have been chosen for this opportunity and am extremely driven to leave a thoughtful and lasting impact on the FMA collection.

Q: Can you share one of your favorite moments from LGBTQ history?

A: One of my favorite moments in LGBTQ+ history is something I learned about more recently: the Women’s Collective, a communal living group formed in Lexington in the early 1970s. This group was dedicated to building a strong lesbian feminist community through shared living, discussion, and the promotion of feminist and lesbian literature. They were deeply committed to social justice and to caring for one another. The bond these women formed, and their willingness to expand their collective to support those beyond it, is a beautiful and powerful piece of LGBTQ+ history that I deeply admire.

Q: Lastly, who is the queer icon you admire the most?

A: A queer icon I greatly admire is Barbara Gittings, often referred to as the “Mother of the Gay Rights Movement.” She founded the country’s first lesbian rights organization, the Daughters of Bilitis, and served as an editor for The Ladder, the first nationally distributed lesbian magazine. She later played a key role in forming the American Library Association’s first gay caucus and helped establish the National Gay Task Force. Her advocacy, especially within libraries and information spaces, continues to inspire me as an aspiring archivist.