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Interviews Underway

Seeking LGBTQIA+ voices to add their stories to the archives

Group of Nebraskans with banner at the 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights

Nebraskans at the 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights

The UNO Queer Omaha Archives is now collecting oral history interviews from community members. Are you interested in being interviewed or do you want to suggest someone whose story should be included in LGBTQ+ Voices: The Queer Omaha Archives Oral History Project? Contact Oral History Associate Luke Wegener (lewegener@unomaha.edu, 402.554.2259) or Director of Archives & Special Collections Amy Schindler (acschindler@unomaha.edu, 402.554.6046).

From October 2017 to January 2018, 11 interviews have been conducted and Oral History Associate Luke Wegener is working with several other folks identified as interested in sitting down to record their interview. As editing and description of these interviews are completed, they will be made available for the public to access online (if the interviewee agrees) or in UNO Libraries' Archives & Special Collections.

We rely on external funding to conduct these oral history interviews, so once we have exhausted our Humanities Nebraska funding and the matching funds raised from community organizations and individuals, collecting new interviews will be paused until we are able to raise additional funding. We need to hear from community members soon to ensure your stories are captured, preserved, and available for future generations to learn from and enjoy. If you have been contacted by the archives and are considering sharing your story, we hope to hear from you soon!

If you would like to support continuing the collection of and access to oral history interviews, please consider making a donation to the Queer Omaha Archives or contact us to volunteer with the project.

About Oral History and the Queer Omaha Archives

From the first conversations between students, faculty, community members, and archivists about creating the Queer Omaha Archives, there were plans to include an oral history component in the collecting initiative. Oral history has the ability to share the memories of people and communities who lived through those events with the present and future through the voices of people from our communities. LGBTQ+ Voices: The Queer Omaha Archives Oral History Project is currently collecting oral history interviews from members of the greater Omaha LGBTQ+ communities, sharing their wide-ranging experiences with their fellow Nebraskans and the world through the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Queer Omaha Archives website.

About the Queer Omaha Archives

The Queer Omaha Archives is part of UNO Libraries’ Archives & Special Collections and officially launched in 2016. The Queer Omaha Archives collects and preserves materials relevant to the LGBTQ+ community in the region. Archives & Special Collections' material is available for the university community and general public at both the Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library and online.

Visit the Omaha Oral History Blogs to learn more.