The (im)possible queer south: Exploring archival description of southern LGBTQ+ materials across the United States

In collaboration with Invisible Histories, a 501(c)3, community-based archive based in Birmingham, Alabama that aims to preserve queer history in the American South, this thesis aims to explore good practices for uncovering southern LGBTQ+ collections within a variety of repositories. Aligning with Invisible Histories’ work to preserve southern LGBTQ+ history through acting as an intermediary between institutions, organizations, and everyday people, this project supports their mission to make southern LGBTQ+ history more accessible to researchers at any level, from novice to expert. Given their aim to ensure researchers can find the materials they seek as independently as possible—honoring the potentially complex affective experiences involved in accessing southern LGBTQ+ history—this thesis aims to build a new set of resources to aid these researchers. This project explores finding aids for collections related to southern LGBTQ+ individuals, organizations, and events to determine 1) what language is used, 2) where this language appears, and 3) how researchers can use this knowledge to improve their search practices. Beginning with a review of archival anxiety, minority stress, symbolic annihilation, and representational belonging to set the stakes, the paper then analyses 312 finding aids across 42 United States archival repositories all related to LGBTQ+ southern identity and experience to surface patterns in language and structure. The paper concludes by providing recommendations for researchers seeking out this variety of material and situating us in the present political and social climate of the United States with the aim that this so-called invisible history can be made visible.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Library & Information Science

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Allgood, Evan M

Contributors dc:contributor

• Wagner, Travis L
• Chan, Anita Say

• Archival Description
• Invisible Histories
• LGBTQ+ Terminology
• American South
• Metadata
• Description of Intersectional Identity

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Evan M. Allgood

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129268

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129268