Unboxing Queer History

In 2024, Gerber/Hart Library and Archives partnered with DePaul University’s HumanitiesX fellowship program to run an undergraduate class. The goal: create an exhibit showcasing the ways members of Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community have historically fought back against homophobic censorship. That semester was an eventful one – faculty and students faced their own threats of censorship, and the class got all the more closely knit because of it. This episode asks the question, could the Do Say Gay class happen now?

Produced by Anna Mason, Edited by Bill Healy

Chicago has a rich history of queer religious groups. This episode explores the layered, often-hidden spiritual lives of queer and trans people with a special focus on voices from Chicago. Through oral histories and archival fragments, this episode chronicles the rituals we've remade, the faiths we've reclaimed, and the traces of spirit we continue to carry.

Produced by: Hannah Viti, Edited by Bill Healy

Answering the call to fill the archives, several heroes take matters into their own hands to address the shortcomings of larger institutions. Interviewees include Frencia Stephenson (We Are Everywhere), Antonio Santos (Gage Park Latinx Council), Patric McCoi, Rainn Thomas, Caryn Robinson, and Parker Haines. Through grassroots archiving initiatives and partnerships, community history projects engage with stories and people that have been ignored, and celebrate the multifaceted, intersectional LGBTQ+ history of our community.

Produced by: Akaelah Flotho, Edited by Mara Lazer

Archives are meant to be places where history and facts are preserved for future generations – these records educate the community, remind us of our roots, and validate our existence. But there are gaps in the archives; a loss and a deafening silence from the missing voices. How do we address this? And what are LGBTQ+ historical repositories like Gerber/Hart, ONE Archives, and the GLBT Historical Society doing to right these wrongs?

Produced by: Akaelah Flotho, Edited by Mara Lazer

Just as we’ve always been here, queer people have always created our own media to get the word out! This episode tells the story of a radical public-access show that demanded visibility for queer women and nonbinary people in media — and gave them the tools to see themselves on their own terms. Through archival tape, original interviews, and personal reflection, this episode revisits Dyke TV’s electric mix of culture, art, politics, sports, health, and street reporting, all filtered through a proudly lesbian, feminist lens.

Produced by: Hannah Viti, Edited by Bill Healy

In this episode, Gerber/Hart volunteers, staff, and sex toy shop Early To Bed owner Searah Deysach discuss the importance of queer erotica. Why should an LGBTQ+ archive preserve erotica and pornographic materials? What is and is not included in the Gerber/Hart erotica collection, and why? Join us on our quest to solve the riddle: where’s all the femme / sapphic / trans porn?

Produced by: Chijioke Williams, Edited by Mara Lazer

The LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project (IDP) kicked off in 2019. The project pairs Queer Elders with Queer “Youngers” over art-making, conversation, and shared meals. The materials from this project are now being donated to Gerber/Hart. This episode investigates the wide gaps between LGBTQ+ generations, why connection between young and old queers is important, and some of the tensions and joys that those relationships bring.

Produced by: Chijioke Williams

Edited by Bill Healy

Folks in Chicago love the Music Box Theatre for its curated programming and bevy of film festivals. But did you know the adjacent Lounge was once a lesbian bar? However, finding evidence of the bar is another story. In this episode, our community reminisces over past lesbian bars and queer women’s spaces, and shows how these spaces thrive today.

Learn more about the subjects and history discussed in this episode through an online exhibit -see here.

Produced by: Quinn Rose

Edited by: Mara Lazer

Welcome back to Unboxing Queer History! In this season, we dive back into the collections of Gerber/Hart, one of the largest LGBTQ+ Library & Archives in the world.

We explore grassroots archiving, public access media, religious self-discovery, and heartfelt dialogue with community leaders, volunteers, researchers, and local historians. Just like last season, Unboxing Queer History combines archival deep dives with conversations, weaving them into audio experiences, sharing our living history with you!

Episode One, Lost and Found: Lesbian Bars and the Music Box Lounge, drops on Tuesday September 22nd, 2025. Stay tuned for more!

Every year, groups of volunteers at Gerber/Hart work for months researching for two large yearly exhibits. In 2019, five volunteers, Whit Sadusky, Veronica Rodriguez, Chase Ollis, Kurt Conley, and James Conley worked to create an exhibit on 1990s Queer Activism in Chicago.

Q: Activism at the Margins of Identity was set to open at Gerber/Hart in April 2020. When the Covid 19 pandemic hit, the exhibit opening was canceled and the library was closed for several months during shelter-in-place. While the curators were able to do an in-person closing event with Homocore Chicago members, most of the exhibit programming was done online.

What work goes into making an exhibit at Gerber/Hart? What does Queer Activism in the 1990s in Chicago look like? What was the “Homocorner”? Listen in to hear more from the curators about the Q exhibit - from Homocore Chicago, zines, Joan Jett Blakk, Queer Nation Chicago, The Pink Angels, and more.

Unboxing Queer History is created by Ari Mejia, Jen Dentel, and Erin Bell. Produced by Ari Mejia with Hannah Viti. Artwork by Mere Montgomery & theme music by Danny Robles! And special thanks to Jules Gordon for co-producing the episode on People Like Us books and Alyssa Edes for producing the episode on Lorrainne Sade Baskerville!

Special thanks to RAILS (Reaching Across Illinois Library System) for the "My Library Is... " grant that funded this project!