Join Natalie Warren and Josh Porter as they showcase the various methods used by the Faulkner Morgan Archive to share Kentucky’s LGBTQ history across the Commonwealth. From Sweet Evening Breeze's drag performances in the 1920s to the passage of the Fairness Ordinance in 1999, this presentation will provide an overview of the origins of the Faulkner Morgan Archive, the content of their collections, and how FMA’s mission guides their engagement with the community. Amid a rising anti-LGBTQ political climate, Warren and Porter will discuss various tactics to continue highlighting this history through collecting and programming.
The Faulkner Morgan Archive (FMA) is the largest independent, community-generated 501(c)3 nonprofit devoted to sharing Kentucky-connected LGBTQ narratives. FMA’s aim is to unequivocally affirm the LGBTQ community’s place in the rich tapestry of Kentucky’s past, present, and future. Over the past eleven years, FMA has preserved and shared Kentucky’s rich queer history, amassing more than 20,000 physical items, with over 95% of them being unique, one-of-a-kind pieces. In this presentation, FMA’s Assistant Executive Director, Josh Porter and Collections Manager, Natalie Warren, will elucidate the archive’s role within the larger landscape of Kentucky’s archival institutions.
This presentation will highlight key moments and figures in Kentucky’s LGBTQ history, from Sweet Evening Breeze's drag performances in the 1920s to the passage of the Fairness Ordinance in 1999, celebrating the resilience and contributions of queer Kentuckians. By shedding light on these often-overlooked narratives, FMA works to foster a greater sense of belonging for LGBTQ individuals in Kentucky while also promoting increased understanding and appreciation among the broader population.
In today’s political climate, members of the LGBTQ community are deeply concerned with increasingly harmful legislation and censorship. Because of these new policies, LGBTQ history is becoming a contentious battleground in the world of libraries, museums, and archives. In a community that has already faced hundreds of years of legal repression and social stigma, many individuals are hesitant to trust large institutions with their materials. As a community-based archive, FMA occupies a unique position to build relationships with local knowledge-keepers and foster the trust required for people to feel comfortable with donating their life’s work or personal items.
However, this work is not static and cannot be done in isolation - it requires engagement with the community. This is the reason that the mission at FMA is not to simply collect, preserve, or save this history, but to share it. FMA works to ensure that Kentucky’s LGBTQ history is not just preserved and archived on its own, but is a participatory and reciprocal endeavor. This is done through a wide variety of programming and events. However, FMA does not currently have a public-facing space in which to host this programming. So, the second part of this presentation will discuss the different collaborations and partnerships with businesses, organizations, and venues that allow FMA to present this history to Kentuckians far and wide.
The kinds of programming strategies implemented include public monuments, historic markers, public murals, street banners, travelling exhibits, and other curatorial collaborations. Others include free, public programming like walking tours, presentations, and a wide variety of workshops. Now, thanks to FMA’s largest grant to date from the Mellon Foundation, there are three new major projects forthcoming. Warren and Porter will round out the presentation by discussing this grant funding and what the future holds for the Faulkner Morgan Archive.