Three day-long digitization events, a panel discussion, and a public lecture to document and preserve historical sources relating to the LGBTQ+ community of North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad region.  Members of the community would be invited to submit personal items for digitization and description.  The applicant expects to collect archival materials reflecting political themes, student groups, and state and national organizations such as Equality North Carolina, PFLAG, GSAFE, and PRIDE.  Using this community-based approach, the applicant hopes to expand existing narratives of Southern LGBTQ+ identities, including sexuality, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and religion.  A proposed historical lecture and panel discussion, building on the items collected for digital preservation, would include representatives from several perspectives.  The applicant would partner with the Guilford Green Foundation, a local LGBTQ community organization.

The University Libraries of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) will partner with the Guilford Green Foundation to preserve and make accessible the history of the LGBTQ+ community of the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina (Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point). Members of the LGBTQ+ community can bring personal items for digitization and description, creating digital content chronicling the history of the population. This project would be the first large-scale initiative to document the LGBTQ+ history of the Triad. Given the unique cultural climate of North Carolina historically and presently, it is anticipated that modern materials will reflect political themes, especially in relation to recent discord over North Carolina Amendment 1, House Bill 2, and House Bill 780. Additionally, with over twenty institutions of higher education in the area, there will be documents and artifacts relating to LGBTQ+ student groups, including representation from three HBCUs.