My own Digging

There were two wonderful afternoons where I got the Archives all to myself. Well, the downstairs part anyways. I spent time at the little table when you first walked into the ‘living room’ area and discovered gem after gem. Pieces from the Black Lesbian, the Holocaust, and Italian subject files. I also got to dive into some erotic art books and handmade zines about sex workers and women who sleep with women.

These moments for me were all about the ideas I have for possible future classes. Queer people in the Holocaust. Erotic Art and Its Importance, Black Lesbian Zines and Writings, etc etc.

This also allowed me to include printed visuals in my work this summer. Art and design through communication, such as zines and booklets, is an important interest to my research. It allows us to see what communication was like for those marginalized trying to find community. It also shows creativity and what that looked like for these smaller communities. The typography, photos, illustrations, cutting and pasting of words, typed words, block printing, and more. Below are some of the pieces I came across. Some maybe consider explitic due to the nature of the photography or art.