Overview
As more and more policies seek to strategically erase LGBTQ+ existence, the intentional documentation of Queer events is vital to preserve records of the traditions, struggles, and forms of resilience for future generations to refer back to. This exhibit is a sampling of ephemera collected by Stevin Wallace (OC '27) from the 2025 Pittsburgh and Cleveland Summer Pride celebrations. These two major Rust Belt cities house strong networks of LGBTQ+ community, but are often overlooked as epicenters for gay Pride due to social beliefs about the declining nature of the Rust Belt. This display also includes artifacts from the Oberlin College Archives that serve as visual sources from previous decades of Queer activity on campus. Before this project, the Archives had no documentation of Pride.
This project was made possible by funding from the Cemelli LGBTQ+ Research Grant.