Embedded Files
Exhibit Layout
This exhibit features a curated selection of journal pages and excerpts from oral histories with alumni, showcasing prominent themes and events. The journals, currently housed at Stonewall House, will be held at the John Hay Library and available to view by appointment. The full oral history interviews collected by the curatorial team will be available digitally through the Pembroke Oral History Project archive.
The first room showcases scans of journal entries exploring self-identity, student organizing, activism in the time of AIDS, and The Next Thing – Brown's queer of color support group. (On the website, this is the "Self Identity, Student Life and Activism" tab.)
The second room features ephemera from that era and a recreation of the LGSA office for visitors to journal in. By adding your own entry to the journal, you are invited to contribute to this collective, ongoing archive. (On the website, this is the "Journals as Queer Archiving" tab.)
Image of "Exhibit Layout" Section Label
Uncredited Journal Entry- "Who Does the LGSA Serve?"
“Who Does the LGBA Serve and What Should its Goals Be?”
Uncredited, Journal 7, c. 1991
Oral History Quotes
One thing I would just say as a meta statement about Brown University, that's true to this day, you know, when I tell people about the opportunity I had to be there and why I think it's such an extraordinary place is because I feel like Brown embraces all of us in our journeys to becoming ourselves (...) There's all the reputation that Brown has for the academics and all the things that Ivies compete about. But in the end, what Brown was was a wonderful container for us to develop voice identity, sense of place, a sense of agency.
- Ellen LaPointe speaking about what Brown meant to her as a place to explore her self-identity and create community
We were like this family, you know, and I do think that within the gay and lesbian community, there was an unbelievably strong sense of looking out for each other. We were really extended family, whether we were close or not close. It was just we were kind of in this thing together.
-Debra Bercuvitz reflecting on the sense of communion with other LGBTQ students that she felt while involved with student organizing at Brown
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