Welcome to the Queer Omaha Archives Oral History Project

Welcome to UNO Libraries' LGBTQ+ Voices: The Queer Omaha Archives Oral History Project! We will post regular news and updates about the project, which is made possible in part by a grant from Humanities Nebraska (HN) and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.

Since this is our first post we want to invite you to learn more about the Queer Omaha Archives and return for more posts about the LGBTQ+ Voices project. The UNO Libraries' launched the Queer Omaha Archives in 2016. 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 will collect 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.

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? 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).

The LGBTQ+ Voices project launched in October 2017 with an oral history workshop led by Jade R. Rogers, Historian, Archivist, and Oral Historian. The workshop offered community members with instruction and guidance on developing a project and questions, oral history best practices, sample interview agreements, example recording devices, and other best practices to begin conducting oral history interviews.

LGBTQ+ Voices: The Queer Omaha Archives Oral History Project is one of many grants funded by Humanities Nebraska (HN). HN awards more than $257,000 in grants each year. In 2017, HN awarded a grant of $2,000 to support LGBTQ+ Voices: The Queer Omaha Archives Oral History Project. UNO Libraries' Archives & Special Collections matched this grant using funds raised from private donors in 2016-2017.

About Humanities Nebraska and Grant Funding

Created in 1973 as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, HN is an independent, non-profit organization governed by a volunteer board of public and academic members. HN funds programs that explore Nebraska's heritage, build community awareness, and strengthen our ties to cultural traditions at home and abroad. The Nebraska Cultural Endowment is a public/private partnership that designates funds to HN for distribution.

Any non-profit group is eligible to apply for a grant from HN. The HN staff is available for grant consultation and will read proposal drafts. Contact the HN office if you need assistance with a project idea. For a copy of Humanities Nebraska grant guidelines, contact HN at 215 Centennial Mall South, Suite 330, Lincoln, NE 68508, phone 402-474-2131, fax 402-474-4852, or e-mail at info@humanitiesnebraska.org. The entire grant guidelines packet is online at: http://humanitiesnebraska.org/.

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.