ESU to Host Traveling Exhibit Chronicling History of LGBTQ+ College Activism

Kemp Library Out on Campus Exhibit

Posted by: Elizabeth Richardson on October 18, 2024, No Comments

East Stroudsburg University’s Kemp Library will host a new traveling exhibit, Out on Campus: A History of LGBTQ+ Activism at Pennsylvania Colleges and Universities from October 21 – November 4, 2024. The opening reception will be held on Tuesday, October 22, at 2 p.m. Both the display and reception will be on the main floor of the library.

This exhibit presents the stories of the formation of some of the earliest LGBTQ+ student organizations and activism at colleges and universities in Pennsylvania, as well as experiences and personal stories of being openly LGBTQ+ on campus.

Visitors will learn about the largest documented LGBTQ+ civil rights student demonstration on a college or university campus in the nation before Stonewall; the first known openly transgender student government president in the nation; the university students who had to sue in order to get recognition for their student organization; and many more fascinating stories of LGBTQ+ campus activism right here in Pennsylvania.

Out on Campus: A History of LGBTQ+ Activism at Pennsylvania Colleges and Universities is presented as both a digital exhibit on the web, and a traveling exhibit, and will include stories of eleven colleges and universities. Additional material will be included on the exhibit web site. The exhibit began traveling to venues across Pennsylvania in September 2022. The digital version is on the web at www.centralpalgbthistory.org.

The exhibit is a collaborative project of the Pennsylvania LGBT History Network, with the LGBT Center of Central PA History Project serving as the managing partner. The Archives and Special Collections of Kemp Library is also partnering with ESU’s Gender and Sexuality Center on the opening reception.

About the PA LGBT History Network

The Pennsylvania LGBT History Network engages people in discovering Pennsylvania’s LGBTQ+ history, historic sites, history projects, artifacts and archival collections. The Network facilitates collaboration between the organizations, institutions and individuals that provide stewardship of this heritage. To join our email list, send a request to: the-pa-lgbt-history-network+subscribe@googlegroups.com.

About the LGBT Center of Central PA History Project

The LGBT Center of Central PA History Project engages people in discovering, documenting, collecting, preserving and presenting the history of the LGBTQ+ community in central Pennsylvania through oral history and material culture. Started in 2012, the collection is housed at the Dickinson College Archives in Carlisle. For more information, contact us at history@centralpalgbtcenter.org. Visit our website at www.centralpalgbtcenter.org/lgbt-history-project and digital museum website at www.centralpalgbthistory.org.