Film Heritage Volunteering opportunity: Before Stonewall an LGBT Oral History Project
12:00pm, Sunday 23rd March 2025
Location: The Old Courtroom, Brighton, BN1 1UD
Before Stonewall an LGBT Oral History Project was an oral history project conducted by Brighton-based arts and media organisation GLAM (Gay and Lesbian Arts and Media) between 2003 - 2004.
The video interviews sought to record for posterity the first-hand recollections of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from across the United Kingdom and beyond, of a time before the events in New York’s Greenwich Village which culminated in the Stonewall Riots of 1969.
The collection of over 100 oral history video interviews was deposited with Screen Archive South East at the University of Brighton for preservation over 20 years ago - but what’s happened since then and how can people access it?
Screen Archive South East and Queer Heritage South are excited to offer a unique opportunity to listen to, watch, and catalogue this unique collection. If you are interested in film heritage and in learning how to preserve, describe and catalogue film heritage so it can be accessible for generations to come, this is an opportunity you don’t want to miss.
Across two Sundays, Screen Heritage facilitator Louise Conway will look at the role of Screen Archive South East and how this collection spent the past 20 years in preservation. Participants will then be invited to view and help catalogue this important collection while learning the practices and challenges of preserving film heritage.
Sunday 23rd March - Introduction to the collection and work of Screen Archive South East as a regional screen archive.
Sunday 6th April - Introduction to the Before Stonewall an LGBT Oral History Project collection and cataloguing practices.
(please ensure you can attend this session if you are interested in helping to catalogue the collection).
Following these two introductory sessions you will be ready to see some of the Before Stonewall material and pick an interview that you connect with to start the cataloguing process. You will then be able to book time to access and work on the video at Screen Archive South East.
You will need to book a separate ticket for each date.
The video interviews sought to record for posterity the first-hand recollections of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from across the United Kingdom and beyond, of a time before the events in New York’s Greenwich Village which culminated in the Stonewall Riots of 1969.
The collection of over 100 oral history video interviews was deposited with Screen Archive South East at the University of Brighton for preservation over 20 years ago - but what’s happened since then and how can people access it?
Screen Archive South East and Queer Heritage South are excited to offer a unique opportunity to listen to, watch, and catalogue this unique collection. If you are interested in film heritage and in learning how to preserve, describe and catalogue film heritage so it can be accessible for generations to come, this is an opportunity you don’t want to miss.
Across two Sundays, Screen Heritage facilitator Louise Conway will look at the role of Screen Archive South East and how this collection spent the past 20 years in preservation. Participants will then be invited to view and help catalogue this important collection while learning the practices and challenges of preserving film heritage.
Sunday 23rd March - Introduction to the collection and work of Screen Archive South East as a regional screen archive.
Sunday 6th April - Introduction to the Before Stonewall an LGBT Oral History Project collection and cataloguing practices.
(please ensure you can attend this session if you are interested in helping to catalogue the collection).
Following these two introductory sessions you will be ready to see some of the Before Stonewall material and pick an interview that you connect with to start the cataloguing process. You will then be able to book time to access and work on the video at Screen Archive South East.
You will need to book a separate ticket for each date.
