Using items from the SOHS Collection as a starting point, Dr. Anna Sloan will explore expressions of LGBTQ+ life, identity, community, and resilience in Southern Oregon over the past 150+ years.
Learn how the western frontier made space for some settlers’ alternative gender and sexual identities while simultaneously erasing Indigenous expressions of the same. Explore how changing social mores of the early 20th century affected peoples’ lives and livelihoods. Hear more recent stories of local LGBTQ+ community-building, meaning-making, artistry, and resilience, even in the face of discrimination and violence. Additionally, attendees will learn about new efforts at SOHS to integrate more of these stories into our collection — and why this task is as challenging as it is important.
Dr. Anna Sloan (she/her/hers) is the Curator of Collections for the Southern Oregon Historical Society (SOHS), and a Research Archaeologist with the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology (SOULA). She is passionate about connecting communities with their histories through the objects that reflect our lived experiences — from the smallest of pottery sherds to the largest of wagon wheels.
The monthly Windows in Time lunchtime lectures feature well-known writers and historians and bring alive the people, values, and events that shaped our southern Oregon heritage. Lectures are jointly sponsored by the Southern Oregon Historical Society (SOHS) and Jackson County Library Services. Programs are presented in Medford (first Wednesdays, in-person and online) and again in Ashland (second Wednesdays, in-person). Recordings of Medford presentations are available on the JCLS Beyond YouTube channel.
