Northampton Pride & Liberation: LGBT Voices from the Valley

This exhibit is the result of a ongoing collaboration between Forbes Library, Lilly Library, Kelly Anderson, Noho Pride, Smith College and Simmons College. It is a work in progress combining oral history interviews, promotional and organizational materials, and photographs to begin to tell the story of the history of the Northampton Gay and Lesbian Liberation March and its evolution into the Northampton Pride Parade.

Use the headings to the right to browse this exhibit.

As you navigate the exhibit, you'll notice the use of subject terms and tags to highlight topics and themes in these materials. For continuity, we've used the Library of Congress' Thesaurus for Graphic Materials. Cataloging standards for oral histories are evolving, and this collection in particular -- which traces multiple identities and politics over time -- demonstrates the frustrating and fruitful power of naming. For instance, the march's name itself has a complex genealogy which many narrators touch on in their interviews.

Content warnings are included with interviews that contain subject matter such as drug use or violence that could be sensitive for listeners, readers, or viewers. When possible, we've tried to use the narrators' own language to identify these topics and experiences.

We've tried to be accurate and clear and also to let the contributors speak for themselves while recognizing the fraught nature of this task. We welcome your feedback.

The oral history interviews included here are shared by their creators under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License. These digitized collections are accessible for purposes of education and research. We’ve indicated what we know about copyright and rights of privacy, publicity, or trademark. Due to the nature of archival collections, we are not always able to clarify information privacy, publicity, and copyright. We are eager to hear from any rights owners, so that we may obtain accurate information and respect the wishes of narrators and interviewers.

This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services with additional funding provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.