Hundreds of rarely seen audio and visual items that document the history of Trans+ activism will be made digitally accessible thanks to a $289,218 US grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources' Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives: Amplifying Unheard Voices program.
University of Victoria Libraries announced on Monday, Nov. 12, that they were one of 18 applications chosen (133 applications were submitted) for the grant, which will go towards digitizing, preserving, describing, and making accessible 521 at-risk items.
"This investment will help UVic Libraries amplify the voices of historical Trans+ figures through a community-centred model with the hiring of two term positions to support the work: a transgender archives metadata librarian, and an outreach and ethics coordinator who will act as a catalyst to an international community of Trans+ people," said UVic librarian Jonathan Bengtson in a news release.
"The impact of the work that lies ahead is immeasurable and will fill in the gaps of the history of the Trans+ movement with living Trans+ elders and activists," he said.
Most of the video and audio files consist of recordings from the 1970s to the 1990s, including Fantasia Fair conferences featuring workshops, individual and panel interviews, as well as awards and fashion show events. There are also video and audio interviews with activists, educators and physicians such as Dallas Denny, Richard Doctor, Ariadne Kane, Allison Laing, Virginia Prince, Joann Roberts, Dr. Eugene Schrang, and Stephen Whittle.
The UVic Libraries’ Transgender Archives is the largest collection of original materials chronicling Trans+ history and activism in the world and UVic Libraries is one of only four Canadian academic libraries to receive a Council on Library and Information Resources grant since 2021.
