Month: May 2021

by Amanda Miano

Kathryn Kuntz always knew she wanted to work in history, but she did not feel suited to K-12 education which was the primary path for those attending Black Hills State University. People would ask her, “Well, what are you going to do then?” It was not until she took a course entitled “Introduction to Public History” that her perspective changed, and she realized just how many unique opportunities there were for someone with a passion for history. After interning at various institutions in Deadwood, South Dakota, Kathryn realized she had developed a passion for cataloguing, and considered pursuing a degree in Museum Studies.

While researching different archival schools across the country, she discovered the wonderful world of Library Science. She ultimately decided to attend Indiana University, as they offered a master’s degree in Library Science, with an emphasis on rare books and manuscripts. While in school she managed to hold down three or four jobs at the same time, including several internships. Kathryn’s mindset has always been one of giving back within the library profession. This has sometimes meant doing work whether she was being paid for it or not. This really speaks to how much Kathryn appreciates all that goes into making things run right, especially within a Special Collections.

After graduating, Kathryn worked at her hometown public library, and in November 2017 she accepted her current position as Supervisor of the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center. Kathryn takes great pride in stating her full job title, emphasizing the name of the department, as it came about because of a large monetary donation on the part of Alice Richardson-Sloane and Loren Ted Sloane in 1999, which led to an entirely redone space for the special collections.

Through all her experiences, perhaps the most important lesson Kathryn has learned, and was generous enough to pass on to an archivist-in-training, is that “Communication is key.” Kathryn’s view is that to properly reach ones’ community and promote those outreach events that are so vital for drawing attention to the various library departments, it is important that all staff members know what is happening in the various departments, ensuring that they can accurately tell patrons about the events being offered. In that way, the entire library staff, and not merely the small, but mighty, staff Kathryn has under her supervision, can be advocating for the Special Collections and the work they are doing.

Along with communication, Kathryn also believes that connections are just as essential, going so far as to say that “Advocacy and outreach … is about building those connections [with the people who make up the community you have been tasked with serving], and making people excited about it,” and in that way, “Public Library Special Collections have that unique job of being community builders” (Kuntz, K.). After attending a “Museum Crawl” in Iowa City, an event which capitalized on this idea of establishing connections amongst various archival institutions in the community, Kathryn says that she was inspired and wanted to find a way to hold a similar event in the Quad Cities, as a way of highlighting, and therefore advocating for, the Special Collections and its holdings. Unfortunately, the first event was not the success Kathryn had hoped it would be, and so she went back to the drawing board, considering how she could best get her specific audience interested in an event such as this one. The answer came in the form of an Archives Fair. The Special Collections, partnering with other local repositories, hosted this event which invited patrons of all ages and demographics to come and learn all about local institutions by visiting various booths, promoting one-on-one interactions between patrons and staff members of the various participating repositories. Kathryn says that she was pleasantly surprised with the turn out for this second event and looks forward to putting on the next one.

Kathryn is quick to assert that she is incredibly pleased with the outreach efforts that have taken place during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Kathryn even took it upon herself, working in conjunction with one of the library’s reference librarians, “. . . to encourage people to write down their stories from this time … and submit them” to the Special Collections (Kuntz, K.). The program was entitled QC Life in the New Normal.  In this way, and in many others, Kathryn is seeking to preserve history, a subject she has cared about from the very beginning. Kathryn has proven that there are many things that can be done in the field of history if one has the right amount of passion and appreciation for it.

Works Cited

European Studies Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries (2018).

[Image of Kathryn Kuntz]. Retrieved March 30, 2021 from https://ess.lib.byu.edu/newsletters/wess-newsletter-archive/wess-newsletter-spring-2018/2018-spring-personal-institutional-news/

Kuntz, K. and Miano A. (2021, March 25). Interview with Kathryn Kuntz. Zoom video meeting.

 

by Gretta Cox-Gorton

What’s a public library to do when a global pandemic shutters its doors? While some of us were making banana bread, researching mutual aid, and figuring out how to get our eager hands on recent bestsellers, our public libraries and the librarians who staff them were hard at work trying to find ways of gracefully bridging the divide between in person and remote access to collections.

Enter Alex London, a reference librarian and subject specialist in Local History and Genealogy at the Main Branch of the Worcester Public Library. The Simmons alum has worked in libraries since he was a teenager, and has been in this position since 2015.

Day to day, London’s responsibilities are extremely similar to the other two dozen or so reference librarians at the WPL, including tasks such as assisting patrons at one of the library’s six service desks, performing regular collections maintenance, purchasing materials, and staffing the online chat reference service, answering questions from far and wide on topics of equal variety, like “was my item renewed?”, “are you taking donations?”, “how do I read ebooks on a laptop?”

Outside of these duties, London, in collaboration with another librarian, is

responsible for the library’s Local History and Genealogy collections, which contain thousands of printed materials such as books and periodicals, photographs, microform, and digital resources dedicated to Worcester’s cultural heritage. Researchers from all walks of life have come to the Worcester Public Library to access these historic collections, but the combination of a global pandemic and a long awaited, large scale renovation of the ground floor, Periodicals area, and Childrens Room have made it difficult to foster access. “Popular [historical] collections at the Worcester Public Library all have something to do with providing a sense of place” says London, as we sit down for our chat at a large table in the middle of the Local History stacks on the third floor, where countless patrons over the years have poured over city directories, yearbooks, and large, historical maps of Worcester county. It’s difficult to maintain a sense of place when the building is inaccessible to patrons and staff, respectively, and most of the materials in London’s charge can only be accessed in person. 

With this barrier to access in mind, London and his coworkers are doing their best to tailor programming to bolster virtual accessibility. “The collections that get used the most are the most user-friendly”, he says, and the numbers back him up. Since the onset of the current global pandemic, the migration of programs to a virtual medium has exploded – participants have doubled, and oftentimes tripled, especially in classes relating to local history and genealogy. Classes which promise to impart practical skills in specific databases and online resources have done particularly well in the last few months, such as “Research Your Family History Through Digital Real Estate Records”, “An Introduction to Finding American Military Records for Genealogists”, and “Read All About it: Finding and Using Newspapers in Genealogy Research”. Beyond classes for unique audiences who need extra guidance, independent searches on databases such as Ancestry have more than quadrupled since last year. This has to do with the increased numbers of people now at home and becoming interested in tackling the family history, but also in the popularity of the programs and classes which focus on how to navigate important sources. In this regard, London’s position is one of a facilitator, not gatekeeper. Instead of relying on antiquated methods of information exchange, he can instead prioritize the creation of avenues for service, and can actively seek to connect researchers directly to resources. This is a crucial aspect of any cultural heritage professional’s responsibilities – democratizing the means of access to ensure transparency and to build trust in user communities.

Even though the pandemic has forced programming to be entirely online, and reference services have morphed, London finds optimism in the current building renovations at the Main library wrapping up and what the space will mean for community engagement in cultural heritage in a post-pandemic world. When asked about how the new and improved space would affect this relationship, he mentioned that the library is purchasing, amongst other kinds of technology, a VHS to digital file converter, which would allow patrons to bring in things like home videos and commit them to a variety of digital formats. London hopes that this technology will serve as an attraction, and promote the library as a center for patrons to not only discover their past, but to preserve it for the generations to come.

Further Reading

Worcester Public Library’s Local History and Genealogy Resources: https://www.mywpl.org/?q=local-historygenealogy

Worcester Public Library’s Online Program Calendar: https://www.mywpl.org/?q=online-calendar

 

 

 

 

 

by Kai Uchida

One of the most prominent community archives in Asian America is Densho. Translating as “to pass on,” it is an organization that is dedicated to providing resources and archival material related to the World War II Incarceration of Japanese Americans and Japanese American heritage. Densho was founded in 1996, and emerged as a community archive that sought to preserve the voices and memories of those who experienced incarceration firsthand. Densho operates as a nontraditional archive that follows the post-custodial model of collection policy. This means that they work directly and primarily with Japanese families to digitize letters, family photo albums, military papers, and other documents relevant to their incarceration, then return them to their owners. They also work with National Archives and Records Administration and several schools within the University of California to digitize at risk documents and to locate and process other materials relating to Japanese cultural heritage. Caitlin Oiye Coon is Densho’s Lead Digital Archivist, and I spoke to her about her role in Densho’s evolution and her shifting priorities in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coon came to Densho in 2012 and arrived with a background as a historian and with a recently acquired master’s degree in Archives and Records Management from San Jose State University. As Densho’s resident digital archivist, Caitlin manages a team of two part-time and two full-time archivists who operate as digitization technicians. Processing is the bulk of their labor, and they conduct significant amount of item-level description on a weekly basis. Using software that they produced at Densho, they create metadata for a wide variety of objects but are renowned for their oral histories. Perhaps their most visible outreach initiative that serves their mostly Japanese-American donor and scholarly user base, their oral history series represents the essence of their mission at Densho. By interviewing and filming Nisei testimony, Densho not only provided a means by which survivors of incarceration could disclose what had been a previously difficult subject to navigate in Japanese-American families but also filled a historical gap that had lacked direct testimony from survivors.

Through the pandemic, Densho has been uniquely adaptable and prepared for the realities of remote work and outreach and has found success with recent events. This is due to the structure and nature of Densho as a hybrid organization. Caitlin says that they can attribute this success to two main reasons. First, Densho’s post custodial and digital model meant that work on processing collections and allowing users to browse collections remained unimpeded. Second, their methods of outreach were already nontraditional because user engagement was already prioritized within the context of remote access. With many Japanese-Americans using their time during the pandemic to pursue genealogy, workshops run by Caitlin on building family trees tripled in attendance through Zoom meetings. Indeed, Coon identifies Densho’s most recent and ambitious new outreach project – a podcast produced by Japanese American brother-sister team Hana and Noah Maruyama about the history of the incarceration called Campu – as a vital part of Densho’s push for a younger audience’s attention to Densho’s collection. Their experiment with this new media medium has proven popular enough for a second season to already be in the planning stages.

However, there are more than a fair share of downsides, challenges, and disadvantages with which Caitlin has had to contend. The intense competition for grant money, funding, and ensuring the long-term life of Densho’s repositories and its staff continues to be an inherent problem. Much of these problems stem from the fact that Densho is not only a non-traditional archive with no physical on site space to exhibit their collections, but also because they are a community archive that receives far less attention compared to traditional and more academically aligned repositories.  While they are a nationally recognized organization that is better known than many other community archives, they still receive little attention or consideration from traditional grants from the likes of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. To counteract this lack of attention and to organize archives collectively to find consistent funding and support, Caitlin has partnered Densho with the Community Archives Collaborative, which is a network that seeks to build connections between community repositories and share ideas and practices that allow for them to become their best advocates.

Caitlin’s role within Densho speaks to how Japanese Americans are taking the lead as stewards of their heritage and memory in building community archives like Densho. Indeed, their post custodial and digitized model ensures that collections can be accessed remotely and kept firmly in the hands of the Japanese Americans. In light of remote access being more important than ever to repositories and the increasing importance of community archives for marginalized and vulnerable nonwhite communities, Densho and its archivists are positioned to thrive as an instructive example of how community repositories should serve their users.

 

 

 

by Ashley Perry

On October 21, 1775 the Taunton chapter of the Sons of Liberty created what came to be known as the Liberty and Union flag — a banner of red cloth with “Liberty and Union” stitched boldly upon it with the Union Jack on the upper left corner — and flew it high on the Taunton Green in protest of British rule. This flag is considered to be one of the first flown of the American Revolution, and it’s inception is celebrated annually at the Liberty and Union Festival, sponsored by the Old Colony History Museum and the Downtown Taunton Foundation.

Founded in 1853, the Old Colony History Museum is one of the oldest historical societies in New England and is dedicated to collecting, preserving, and exhibiting the history of Southeastern Massachusetts. OCHM’s secondary mission is “to interpret the area’s history in ways that are accessible, inclusive and meaningful to local residents and visitors” through outreach and events. Their vast collections contain over 13,000 objects including textiles, silver, and militaria as well as 500 linear feet of archival materials. The Museum also houses a sizable research library containing genealogical materials related to Plymouth County. Rotating exhibits highlight important moments of the “Old Colony’s” history. Visitors can now see the latest special exhibit, A View of Plymouth Colony: Then & Now, celebrating the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Mayflower.

The Downtown Taunton Foundation is a relatively new nonprofit organization established in 2011 to “promote the arts, strengthen small business, eliminate blight, create affordable housing, and improve overall quality of life in the Downtown neighborhood.” The Downtown Taunton Foundation collaborates often with the Old Colony History Museum, and has sponsored the Liberty and Union Festival since the organization’s creation.

The weekend-long patriotic bash now known as the Liberty and Union Festival has taken place every October since its inception in the 1990s. Originally beginning as a small parade, the event has expanded over the years to encompass a full weekend of historical and local fun. Activities vary year to year, but the festival always includes the raising of the Liberty and Union flag complete with historical reenactment and rousing speeches. Over the years, the festival has even drawn groups of reenactors from across New England to partake in the celebration. OCHM also brings in a variety of local historians and scholars to give lectures and talks, and the festival typically includes free tours of the Museum and the First Parish Church as well as walking tours through downtown Taunton.

While the festival was created to highlight an important historical moment for Taunton, it also serves as a celebration of local art, culture, and business. The 2013 festival included a stall with 18th century cuisine prepared by Taunton High School culinary students as well as a “Liberty Libations” pub crawl in the evening. 2015 showed one of the largest turnouts to date at about 300-400 people, and further incorporated food trucks, arts and crafts vendors, as well as musicians and dancers. Other favorites included 18th century dance lessons, colonial games, and pottery demonstrations. While the 2020 Liberty and Union Festival couldn’t take place in-person due to COVID-19, OCHM was determined to continue the tradition. Through online games and activities as well as a live stream of the flag raising ceremony, the Museum was able to bring the patriotic celebration right to families’ homes.

The Festival has a little bit of everything, which may be why it’s been so successful in connecting with the community. It embraces Taunton’s historical significance while simultaneously celebrating the local artists and businesses of the present. While locals appear to make up most of the festival-goers, Liberty and Union also attracts visitors from other parts of Plymouth County as well as regional politicians and officials. While the program is designed as a community outreach event, it has also been an effective way for the Old Colony History Museum to advocate for their program. Not only was the Museum able to get more visitors through their doors (including those who didn’t realize the Museum even existed!!), their patrons kept coming back for more after the event’s conclusion. For that, the Liberty and Union Festival deserves a grand “Huzzah!”

 

For Further Reading:

https://www.libertyandunion.org/

https://www.oldcolonyhistorymuseum.org/libertyandunion/

https://www.tauntongazette.com/story/special/2020/10/19/whats-happening-with-tauntons-liberty-and-union-festival-its-moved-to-your-screens/114442722/

 

by Jack Oldham

The project I chose to profile is the “The State of Utah vs Joe Hill,” which was created by the Utah Division of Archives and Records Service.  This is an active project that looks to tell the story of Joe Hill who was a Sedish-American labor leader and activist.  In 1915, Hill was convicted of the murders of two men in Salt Lake City.  The night of the murders, Hill appeared at the office of a doctor with his own gunshot wound, causing suspicion that he was involved.  Hill’s trial and subsequent execution spurred international headlines and discussion about his innocence and whether or not he was being targeted for his work as a prominent labor organizer.

“The State of Utah vs. Joe Hill” serves as a digital exhibit on Utah’s state archive’s web page.  The goal of this project is to fully digitize and transcribe records related to Joe Hill, his trial, and the international conversation that it created.  In order to make these records publicly available and accessible, the Utah Division of Archives and Records Service is asking the public to help with the transcription process.  There are currently three collections available for the public to transcribe, “Governor Spry Joseph Hillstrom Case Records,” “Governor Spry Joseph Hillstrom Petitions,” and “Governor Spry Joseph Hillstrom Correspondence.”  This project appears to have reached an enthusiastic and participatory audience as more than half of the materials have been accurately transcribed in just over a month.

Looking at this project from an advocacy and outreach perspective, I was struck by the use of crowdsourcing transcription and how that works to the benefit of the institution in more than one way.  As we have discussed in class, government archives oftentimes find it difficult to access an adequate amount of funding.  Crowdsourcing serves as an interesting strategy to keep costs low while also increasing institutional productivity.  Furthermore, crowdsourcing looks to be an effective method of outreach for institutions as they can thoroughly engage with a wide audience.  In this case, the Utah State Archives are certainly looking to serve their people in an effort to help create a community, specifically for Utahns and individuals interested in labor history in the United States.  This is a particularly effective way to create a larger and more involved community during the Covid-19 pandemic.  Given our inability to gather and come together in person, crowdsourcing through the internet is a great solution that helps further the institution’s goal of community building.  This goal of the project aligns with the institution’s mission and values to provide its citizens with a more complete understanding of Utah and its people.

Another important aspect of this project is related to Joe Hill’s innocence.  There is much evidence that indicates that Joe Hill was innocent and received unjust treatment from the Utah Justice System.  By digitizing and transcribing this collection, the Utah State archives are providing documentary evidence of past wrongdoing against citizens.  In doing so, the institution is providing greater transparency and accountability to the Utah state government.  There also seems to be an element of attempted inreach in the Joe Hill project.  By detailing the past transgressions of the state government, the Utah archives can inform and remind the government of its commitment to serving its citizens with transparency and justice.  Greater engagement with the public and those within the Utah state government are laid out as key goals in the Archives’ “Outreach and Advocacy Guide.”

Further Reading

“The State of Utah vs. Joe Hill” special project:  https://archives.utah.gov/digital/joe-hill.html

Utah Division of Archives and Records Service “Outreach and Advocacy Guide”: https://archives.utah.gov/documents/utah-state-archives_outreach-guide_FY2021.pdf

 

 

by Kelly Strickland

The Eye on Houston: High School Documentary Photography project calls for students from Houston public high schools to submit photographs for display at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH). The project prompts students to photograph the world around them and show their unique perspective for a chance to have their work displayed at the museum.

The project is a collaboration between the museum and the Houston Independent School District and has been running for 26 years.

The goal of the project is to document and celebrate “Houston’s diverse neighborhoods.”¹ The project emphasizes diversity by partnering with schools from across the city. As Houston is a large, sprawling city, museum visitors are going to see parts of it that they have never seen before in these photographs.

Students are asked to document their daily lives, a prompt that allows a lot of freedom to interpret in their own way and show off aspects of their local area that speak most to the student. This year there were pictures of friends, family, nature, buildings and businesses. The student names the photograph and can choose to include a description. All of the photos are printed on an inkjet printed and framed in a uniform way.

The project itself is fairly easy and accessible for an average student to complete. Most high school students are going to at least have access to a cell phone with a camera, while others might have access to more traditional cameras. The project doesn’t require the students to be in a photography class or a have a background in photography. However, it is a way to give students who are interested in photography and taking those classes an avenue to compete and showcase their work.

The project is a great opportunity for students to be the artist and see their work hung alongside major works of art. The exhibit runs for almost a year which gives students and their families plenty of time to visit. It is then quickly replaced by the chosen photographs for the next year. By partnering with the public schools across the city, the museum reaches a population that might not be familiar with the museum. Given the large size of the city, it’s not always easy to travel to the museum, but the project gives students and their families more of a reason to do so.

The 2021 exhibit is displayed in two locations – the newly built Kinder Foundation Education Center Gallery and the MFAH Visitor Center. The Kinder Building is a recently completed eight-year project to expand the museum. Putting the exhibit inside this new building as well as its usual placement will give it more visibility. The original location in the Visitor Center is near the museum’s café, but is getting less foot traffic as the café is closed due to Covid-19.

The success of the project is shown in the number of submissions that the exhibit receives. In 2019 the museum received over 700 submissions with 93 chosen for showing.

¹https://www.mfah.org/exhibitions/eye-on-houston-high-school-documentary-photography-2021/

by Emily Moran

In the Spring of each year, members of the Geechee Kunda community come together for The Gathering, a celebration of Gullah Geechee heritage and culture. The Gathering, like many of their other annual events, is a day-long festival that involves presentations, events, vendors, music, foodways, and agricultural traditions. Historians, conjurors, artists, singers, musicians, dancers showcase their talents and share their knowledge with their audience, which include people who have traveled locally and internationally to attend.

Geechee Kunda is a living museum and cultural center along the Gullah Geechee Heritage Corridor in Riceboro, Georgia. Kunda is a Sarakolé word that means “compound” and “home of hope”, which is very much what Geechee Kunda is to many people. The founder and co-director, Jim Bacote, along with many community volunteers, built the center from the ground up on roughly 3 acres of land in 2001. The location of the cultural center is significant because it is the ancestral land of Jim Bacote– it is not only the land where his ancestors were enslaved on the brutal Retreat Plantation, but it is also where his grandparents had lived.

It has since become an invaluable resource for people locally and globally, and it continues to grow. According to historian, Gregory Grant, Geechee Kunda is like old *praise houses where people come to be rejuvenated. People come to learn and to spend time together. For some, travelling to visit Geechee Kunda can be like a homecoming.

There are quite a few things about the cultural center that are unique. In addition to it being the only Gullah Geechee owned and operated center in the world, it has been entirely funded by the Bacotes through their personal funds and fundraising. The Bacote home is a central part of a living history museum, which also includes a research center, arts gallery. The space is also used to host private events and meetings in addition to educational events. Although Geechee Kunda has been grappling with the loss of Jim Bacote since 2018, members of the community continue to organize and continue the vision for the center. They offer tours and host visitors and it is also used as a filming location and place to host office excursions, weddings, educational exchanges, rites of passage programs, and family reunions.

The Gathering event features the Geechee Gullah Ring Shouters, the “African Spirit” performance, among other performances, edutainment, displays, demonstrations, vendors, arts and crafts. Since the cultural center has been funded personally by Jim and Pat Bacote, they must continue to do outreach programs to sustain the center. Not only is this celebration a successful way to bring attention to Geechee Kunda as an intentionally cultivated space, but it is also an opportunity to bring community together to learn more about and celebrate heritage. The Gathering is one of the largest annual events that they host, along with the annual Sugarcane Harvesting Festival and Kwanzaa celebrations, and it is an important opportunity to highlight the center and it’s value to all who attend.

Outreach events are hugely important to the survival of the space, which means that in addition to hosting events, they must be well-attended. While Geechee Kunda does have an internet presence, many people find out about events through word of mouth. Other ways that they advertise are with banners, in newspaper ads, and on local news stations. Annual events are not just outreach, they are also a fundamental part of how and why the cultural center exists. The events are not by an institution for patrons, it is by and for the community. While outreach is needed for the long-term viability of the center, it is also what keeps community together and what keeps legacies alive.

*a praise house is a small meeting place where African American people go to meet and worship. They originated on St. Helena Island in South Carolina during the period of enslavement.

Resources:

https://www.wavy.com/black-history-month/hidden-history-preserving-celebrating-gullah-geechee-culture/

https://savannahherald.net/wa-jine-we-jim-bacote-p12839-1.htm

https://www.gofundme.com/f/geecheekunda

https://explorebeaufortsc.com/the-vanishing-praise-houses-of-st-helena-island/

 

 

by Julianna Head

The Stonewall National Museum and Archives (SNMA) is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Founded by Mark Silber in 1972, the SNMA is dedicated to LGBT+ history, civil rights, arts, and culture. The museum features three gallery spaces with exhibits that change on a monthly and bi-monthly basis and includes a permanent timeline of American LGBT+ history. At nearly fifty years old, the SNMA focuses on promoting, understanding, and sharing the culture of the LGBT+ community and their role in American society. It is one of the largest gay archives and libraries in the United States, and public programs include a variety of events, such as film showings, author presentations, and panel discussions.

Though the museum and archives have no direct link to the New York Stonewall Riots of 1969, Mark Silber chose the name as a way to recognize the fight for LGBT+ rights that began there. Programs within SNMA carry the name as well, such as the Stonewall National Education Project, which is composed of more than 200,000 educators and delegates representing millions of high-school-aged youths. Its annual symposium includes topics such as sex, sexuality, support systems, social justice and curriculum, and accommodations for transgender and gender nonconforming students.

Upon entering the website, the visitor is greeted by little immediate information. The background is dominated by a picture of the front of the museum and archives, cut through with an eye-catching, transparent yellow box with a variety of links, including ‘Current Virtual Exhibitions’ and ‘Public Programming.’ The navigation bar at the top of the page includes a few tabs linking to an ‘About Us’ page, a ‘Programs’ page, and others. Scrolling down, the location and hours of the SNMA are in small print, and immediately following is a list of supporters.

Clicking on the ‘Public Programming’ tab leads to a page of online events covering a variety of LGBT+ issues. Even before the pandemic, the SNMA hosted a variety of online events. Free and open to the public, there are at least two virtual events held every month, often more. The events are conversations and discussions with LGBT+ artists, writers, photographers, illustrators, activists, and others. The events delve into national queer history by highlighting recently published queer authors. The SNMA makes it a point to mention their enewsletter at the top of every page, which will allow visitors to stay informed about these virtual events and other ongoings of the museum and archives.

The SNMA website is eye-catching and easy to navigate. Many of their pages are constantly being updated, which is a great inference to the energy and passion the workers and volunteers bring to their duties. Not only are they active, but the virtual events keep up to date with current sociopolitical issues, dealing with subjects from racism and discrimination to queer history. Their travelling exhibitions are available at all CenterLink LGBT+ Centers and can be accessed throughout the United States. The SNMA also has a webpage dedicated to additional LGBT+ archives around the country, allowing visitors to find archives and resources they may not have been previously aware of.

The ongoing pandemic has turned their attention from physical outreach to virtual, and they have adapted exceptionally well. They are planning on having their yearly Stonewall National Education Project symposium virtually and have a variety of online exhibits that a visitor can click through. The virtual exhibitions highlight the breadth of LGBT+ history in the United States, and the includes materials such as lesbian feminist periodicals, posters from New York’s disco scene, and magazines from the National Black Lesbian and Gay News Magazine. Though there are not many virtual exhibitions yet, with the way the website is run, visitors can expect a new exhibition once every few months.