By Evelyn Bailey
Shoulders To Stand On is ready to begin filming the 60 minute documentary on the gay history of Rochester. The necessary research pieces are in place. Now the real fun of this project begins.
Total Production cost is $120,000. The cost of filming the oral history interviews for the Documentary is $40,000. We currently have $2,750 in the coffers. This is a community project so we are hoping to identify 15 to 20 donors who will fund the entire project. Every dollar counts and your donation is very important. You can make your contribution on the Support the Project page at www.shoulderstostandon.org.
So far, we have digitized 40 years of the Empty Closet newspaper, the oldest continuously published gay newspaper in New York State and second oldest in the country. We have just completed the second year of a three-year grant cycle funded by the NYS Archives Documentary Heritage Program Grant Project.
We have identified over 250 LGBT groups, agencies, organizations and individuals in Rochester that have been in existence over the past 41 years. Of those we have contacted information for 79 groups. We have 31 completed surveys of the over 50 given out to those that have records. We have arranged for the temporary storage of approximately 30 cubic feet of records at Data Vault Storage at no charge.
In Phase three we will place a minimum of three collections in permanent repositories. We have updated our website, and have created an NYS Archives page as a part of the Library and Archives Program website. Over the past year the number of speaking engagements has doubled. In July, Shoulders To Stand On spoke on “Remembering Our History: Struggles and Victories” to the Chautauqua Gay & Lesbian Community sponsored by Metropolitan Community Church at Chautauqua.
In October Shoulders To Stand On will present a Workshop on “How Has Corporate America Impacted State/Federal LGBTQI Legislation? Life after Marriage Equality in New York” at the Out & Equal Summit in Dallas, Texas.
At the beginning of November, Shoulders To Stand On will present a workshop on “Preservation and Archival Best Practices for You, Your Organization, Your Agency” for LGBT employee resource groups, organizations and agencies whose history and contribution to gay liberation needs to be documented and remembered.