Queer Archives Project

Welcome to the QAP Informational Site, where you can learn about the history of the Queer Archives Project and read all interview transcripts.  To access the audio transcripts and explore the 200+ archival artifacts we have networked with those interviews, please visit the QAP DIGITAL HUMANITIES SITE . 

The Queer Archives Project at Lafayette College is a collaborative, interdisciplinary initiative designed to illuminate Lafayette’s Queer history, advance teaching, learning and research in the area of Queer Studies, and promote positive institutional transformation.

Jointly led by the College Archives, Skillman Library’s Digital Scholarship Services and the Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies program, the QAP coordinates three innovative and interconnected efforts across the College:

• The QAP LGBTQ+ oral history project. We’ve conducted 25 oral history interviews to date.
• The QAP digital humanities research site, which connects oral history interviews to over 200+ archival objects from Lafayette’s Queer history. Visit the QAP digital humanities site here.
• New academic experiences for students and the promotion of Queer Studies across the Lafayette curriculum.

The Queer Archives Project is committed to an intersectional perspective that recognizes how LGBTQ+ lives are dynamically shaped by race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, gender, age, and other aspects of identity. Throughout our work we alternate between use of the word “Queer” (a more recent term often associated with academia) and “LGBTQ+” (a more established acronym). While we are aware that not everyone agrees about best terms, our goal is always to be inclusive and respectful. .

The Lafayette LGBTQ+ Oral History Project

In 1992, the Princeton Review named Lafayette College the most homophobic campus in the United States. Lafayette was simultaneously ranked first for gays still in the closet.

Three decades later, the Lafayette QAP oral history project offers LGBTQ+ identified alumni, faculty and staff an opportunity to share their experiences and reflect on their time on campus—in their own words and on their own terms. To date, 25 members of the LGBTQ+ community have completed oral history interviews. The QAP oral history project is also collecting related LGBTQ+ memorabilia, photographs, and materials. Materials collected will be incorporated into the QAP digital humanities project and housed in the College Archives.

Read more about the origins of the Queer Archives Project in the Lafayette magazine fall 2018 cover story, “Coming Out.”