Today, I spoke with a largely straight audience about the history of Pride celebrations. The first question an audience member asked was, "How can I help?"

As a friend of The History Project-whether that's as a donor of time, materials, or money, or just someone who loves queer history-I'm sure you can think of many ways. As I explained in my talk today, there are lots of ways an individual can help the LGBTQ community:

• You can learn about the LGBTQ community

• You can talk to your friends and neighbors about the unique challenges LGBTQ people face (especially LGBTQ communities of color)

• You can vote, protest, and/or volunteer

• You can donate money

Today, I am writing to ask for your help with that last bullet and make a donation (or set up a recurring donation) to help to support The History Project, Boston's LGBTQ community archives.

To put it mildly, this has been a significant year in the 40-year history of The History Project. I became our first Executive Director in January of this year-an exciting step for myself and the organization. Then in mid-March, we were forced along with much of the world to close our physical doors to the public and volunteers.

Given the continued pandemic, The History Process faces a significant challenge to fulfilling our mission. While much of our work has gone virtual for now, our physical archives still need a home, and we are maintaining our space at 29 Stanhope Street to welcome you back in person when it is safe to do so.  

As one of the nation's foremost LGBTQ archives, we need your support as never before to maintain a safe, sustainable home for our collections. While gifts of all sizes are welcome, a recurring donation of any size gives The History Project the security to take long-term steps toward a sustainable future for the archives. Please help us to reach our goal of 50 recurring monthly donations, click here to make a one-time gift or to set up your recurring donation.

Your donation allows us to continue our work of preserving, protecting, and sharing Boston's LGBTQ history. Despite not being able to gather in person, The History Project has held Out of the Archives events on topics ranging from the history of the hanky code to interpreting LGBTQ history at museums and historic sites. We also launched #QueerArchivesAtHome, a program that enables community members to share artifacts and stories from their home collections via social media. We continue to respond remotely to researchers seeking information from our extensive archival collections and to work with donors to preserve collections in a socially responsible, distanced way.

Many thanks for your support-be well-and continue celebrating queer life, in Boston and beyond.

In the cause,

Joan Ilacqua
Executive Director