Since Stonewall Contest

Contest Description

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, OutHistory.org, the LGBTQ history website, will award five prizes for the best collaboratively-created online exhibits of the local histories of villages, towns, counties and cities in the US since June 1969. Prizes span from $5,000 for the first place winner, to $1,000 for the fifth place winner.

We intend this contest to draw attention to LGBTQ histories outside of major cities. We hope to receive at least one submission from every state, but there is no limit on the number of entries per state.

This contest is supported by the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the City of New York Graduate Center and the Arcus Foundation.

Timeline

- To be eligible for the contest, first drafts of exhibits must be posted by the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots on June 28, 2009. - Revised exhibits must be completed by March 31, 2010. - OutHistory will announce the top five exhibits on June 28, 2010.

Requirements

- Your exhibit must have a title that includes the village, town, city or county and state and a time frame. Although we prefer that exhibits span the entire 40 year period, we will accept exhibits that begin after 1969. For example “In the Life, New York City, NY: Since Stonewall, June 28, 1969-present.” - Your exhibit must have a main page that lists all the additional pages in your exhibit. - Every page must cite all sources using the Chicago Manual of Style Guide which can be found here: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html - Every page in your exhibit must have subject categories. These categories might include: “Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, AIDS, Parenting, Aging, Activism.” - Every page in your exhibit must have a synopsis. For example: “This page discusses how the HIV/AIDS epidemic affected gay life in Chicago, IL.” - Every page in your exhibit must have specified time-span. For example, “August 1981 – July 1992.” - Every exhibit must have a contact person. You can post a contact person’s name and e-mail address on your page, or send it to outhistory@gc.cuny.edu.

Suggestions

- There are multiple ways to structure a local history exhibit. Consider which structure would work best for the story you want to tell. You could, for example, base your 40-year exhibit around a few individuals’ life stories, notable local events or specific places in your community . You could document how different groups of people have experienced the last forty years differently. - Find a wide array of sources on which to base your exhibit: newspaper articles, interviews, letters, artwork, maps, etc. Find historical documents and objects at through LGBTQ archives or local historical societies. A listing of LGBTQ archives across the country can be found here: http://www.archivists.org/saagroups/lagar/guide/index.html - Try to make exhibits as dynamic as possible – include images, video and audio clips whenever possible. See OutHistory “Help” pages for instruction about how to do so. - Try to design your exhibit so that a broad audience of internet users can understand and learn from it. - You may want to include a timeline of events so that the history you are telling is clear.

Press Release

For more information please contact the Project Coordinator at outhistory@gc.cuny.edu