By Evelyn Bailey
In late September 2010, the Gay Alliance was notified that the New York State State Education Department (SED), had tentatively awarded the GAGV a NYS DHP Phase II Archives Grant for 2010 – 2011 in the amount of $9,885.
In October, we received word from Pamela Cooley, DHP Grants Officer, NYS Archives that all the required paperwork had been submitted to the proper agencies, but that we needed to have final approval from State Ed. Dept., Depapartment of Budget, the Office of State Comptroller, and the Governor’s office. On Nov. 15, all approvals had been given, and 50 percent of the grant award was released. Finally we could officially begin work on the Project.
I detailed this chain of events so that the Rochester gay community would have a sense of the process involved to begin work on Phase II of this Project. The grant application was submitted February 1, 2010. Nine months later the work can begin. The wheels of government certainly do turn slowly!
NEWS FLASH: January 11, 2011 – Alice Carver-Kubik is hired by the Gay Alliance as the Archival Consultant for the NYS DHP Phase II Archives Grant for 2010 – 2011.
So you say, what is the Phase II Archives Grant, why hire an archival consultant and what does it matter anyway?
Good questions. Let me ask you to recall what you were doing two years ago during the month of January, 2009. Do you remember? Exactly! The NYS DHP Phase II Archives Grant will help our community remember what we were doing not only two years ago, but 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 years ago. Our individual and collective history has been written down by various individuals and/or organizations/agencies/groups, big or small, in many locations. It takes time to identify who has the records, locate where they are, and survey them in an organized way so that others can access them for research and so they will be a part of the history of New York State.
Not everyone has the ability to determine what records are of value and should be saved and what records are not of value. An Archival Consultant can provide an answer to this question. The Archival Consultant can also find an appropriate permanent repository for the records, and/or provide guidelines for storing records at their current location.
Now to answer perhaps the most important question of all – what does it matter whether records are preserved or they aren’t? I will answer that with a question to you, the reader. What does your own history mean to you? Why is your history important to you? Or is it?
All of us have a history. Whether or not we remember it, our history has shaped us and molded us into the people we are today. If you have any desire to understand yourself, to learn what makes you “tick”, and to learn how you came to this point in time, then you have answered the question, “What does it matter?”
You and I know that our future comes out of our past individual unique experiences and history. This is true for the gay community of Rochester as well. The unique experiences and history of this community will give shape to its future, to our future as GLBT Rochestarians. One of the keys is to remember, and not forget. Thus this DHP Phase II Archival Grant is important to help us do just that – to remember! Just as photographs, stories and people can tell us parts of our own individual history, they can tell us parts of our community history.
Without a history we do not exist as individuals or as a community. As time passes it becomes more critical to capture the photographs, stories, and people who can help give a complete history of our community. This multi-phase DHP Grant will insure that this historical record will be located and identified for research and advocacy purposes. The GAGV believes this Documentation Project will provide our community with the documented history that provides credibility to our very existence!
Finally, we need your help to accomplish this. If you have any photographs, stories, memorabilia of GLBT Rochester history, please contact Alice Carver-Kubik at the Gay Alliance 244-8640 Ext. 32 or at AliceCK@gayalliance.org.