“The Queer History of Cornell” is an ongoing project of the Cornell Public History Initiative.
Lead Curator and Exhibition Designer: Stephen Vider, assistant professor of history and founding director of the Public History Initiative
Timeline curated and produced by students in “Making Public Queer History,” Spring 2020: Michelle Abramowitz, Matt Anticoli, Maddie Crooker, Emi Donald, Max Fernandez, Yilei Huang, Nina Johnson, Kevin Lam, Zain Lugay, Maya Matunis, Regan Murray, Erin Nolan, Nik Pasqualini, Jeremy Peschard Pórtela, Victoria Serafini, Liz Stell, and Levi Wilson
Artifacts curated and produced by students in “Making Public Queer History,” Fall 2021: Rohit Agrawal, Olivia VF Chaudhury, Andy Colpitts, Travis Covitz, Noah Endreny, Deeps Ilango, Jeff Iovannone, Ally Knapp, Kayla Koroma, Claudia León, Alexander Myers, James Riccio, Sahana Shridhar, Bella Somoza, Mashka Sutton, Grace Tran, and Daniela Wise-Rojas
Research Advisor and Exhibition Assistant: Lyrianne González,PhD student in History and PHI Graduate Fellow, Fall 2021
Research Assistants: Nina Johnson, Claudia León, Sahana Shridhar, and Mashka Sutton
Proofreader and Copyeditor: Jeff Iovannone, MA student in Historic Preservation Planning
Main header photograph: Cornell LGB Coalition at the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation, courtesy of Jose Barrios.
We especially thank Brenda Marston, curator of the Human Sexuality Collection in Rare and Manuscript Collections, who coordinated multiple visits to the archive in both Spring 2020 and Fall 2021 and guided us through the collection’s vast records of Cornell LGBTQ student activism.
Thank you also to the staff at Rare and Manuscript Collections for their consistent support of the course and the digital exhibition.
Finally, thank you to Cornell alumni George Ayala, Jose Barrios, Roya Hamadani, Ian Lekus, and Hugh Ryan, as well as class visitors Nalini Elias, Ted Kerr, Jen Manion, and Amy Sueyoshi.
To learn more about the PHI and see more student exhibitions and projects, visit our website and follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
Please email questions about the exhibition or the PHI to svider@cornell.edu.
Please contact Brenda Marston (bjm4@cornell.edu) if you are interested in donating materials related to the history of LGBTQ activism and culture at Cornell to the Human Sexuality Collection.
2020 photographs by Brenda Marston and Stephen Vider; 2021 photographs by Carla DeMello.