1 research outputs found
Saving 'Happy' Foundation Histories: The Preservation of Gay History in San Antonio and Contemporary Dilemmas in Queer Archives
No full textIn the United States, the gay liberation movement of the 1970s into the 1980s served as a watershed for the emergence of gay community archives. In 1988, Gene Elder, a local artist and activist, founded the Happy Foundation Archives and dedicated it to San Antonio’s queer history. While LGBTQ history is often overlooked in Southern and Southwestern states like Texas, the Happy Foundation provides vital insights into San Antonio’s history of resistance and empowerment. However, the collection highlights significant gaps, notably the underrepresentation of lesbian and transgender people of color. This absence raises critical questions about the racial and gender-based discrimination within queer history and archives.
This study uses materials from the collection to illustrate the importance and vibrancy of San Antonio’s queer history but also uses theoretical frameworks from archival studies and queer theory to approach the Happy Foundation as the subject of research. This analysis is framed within the “archival turn” in humanities situating the Happy Foundation in the broader context of the queer community archives in the U.S. examining how absences are produced, the shift towards institutionalization, and practical dilemmas in archives. The current socio-political climate, including recent threats to LGBTQ+ history, add to the critical nature of the preservation of queer history and the representation of people of color. The Happy Foundation is an example of how the visibility of queer people of color is obscured from history but also stands as testament that the preservation of local histories is powerful against widespread erasure.Histor
