Trans Oral History Project – Artist Collection
- Nat Rivkin and The Trans Oral History Project
- Department of English, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, School of Arts & Sciences, The Center for Research in Feminist, Queer, and Transgender Studies
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Project Support Grant
Trans Oral History Project.
The Trans Oral History Project – Artist Collection preserves and makes accessible the stories of trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming artists, musicians, performers, and other creatives based in the city of Philadelphia. The Trans Oral History Project (TOHP) is a city-campus partnership between the Center for Research in Feminist, Queer, and Transgender Studies, the William Way LGBT Center, and the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts at the University of Pennsylvania. This project will develop a new collection within the existing archive focused on trans art-making, performance, and gender-affirming vocality. The TOHP’s Artist Collection will index the political capacities and life-saving work of creative practices within Philadelphia’s trans communities.
The TOHP conducts oral history interviews and makes them widely available online through digital recordings and searchable transcripts. The TOHP also seeks to honor the wide diversity of trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming lives by prioritizing the stories of BIPOC participants and trans elders. The project is invested in redressing how histories of gender expansiveness have been medicalized, commodified, and erased. By conducting co-directed interviews between students and participants, the project aims to foster lasting intergenerational bonds and community healing.