The Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ Oral History Project

The Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ Oral History Project

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer plus (LGBTQ+) history and activism in Colorado Springs is mostly invisible to mainstream queer history. The Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ Oral History Project was established in 2020 by Dr. Rushaan Kumar, Assistant Professor of Feminist and Gender Studies at Colorado College with Dr. Tre Wentling, Assistant Professor of Women’s and Ethnic Studies at UCCS, as a key contributor.

The Project emphasizes four goals in studying life, resistance, and resilience.

• Document the rich LGBTQ+ history of Colorado Springs by collecting stories of long-term LGBTQ+ residents, focusing on black, indigenous, and people of color voices.
• Incorporate high-impact education practices, which positions undergraduate students as co-producers of The Project.
• Preserve and make accessible a digital repository for The Project.
• Celebrate The Project in ways that bring together members of CC and UCCS and the broader Colorado Springs community. For example, Mx. Larry Eames, Digital Curation and Scholarship Librarian and Assistant Professor of the UCCS Kraemer Family Library, created the Second Digital Curation Exhibit, featuring seven narrators from Season Three recorded by UCCS students.

We have collected 45 oral history recordings, which are accessible via multiple platforms: the Tutt Library Digital Archive, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. Dr. Tre Wentling and 49 UCCS students co-produced Seasons Three and Five of The Project, recording 19 of the oral histories. 

The Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ Oral History Project harnesses the power of oral histories in preserving LGBTQ+ subcultures, memories, and lived experiences while simultaneously observing practices of joy, resilience, and community building among queer and transgender-identified people in Colorado Springs. 
  
Project coordinators can be contacted at rkumar@coloradocollege.edu and twentlin@uccs.edu and through our Instagram @cos.lgbtq.oralhistoryproject.