This Web site will officially launch in September, 2008. At that time, it will have hundreds of interviews, thousands of photos and other documents. Most of the video interviews are now available for viewing.
The site is broken down into several key areas. Using the top and bottom navigation bars, here is how to find what you are looking for:
1) Under the SEARCH button, far right, you will be able to search for any person, group name, etc., in the various parts of the Web site.
2) The TIMELINE will have key events in Chicago's history.
3) BIOGRAPHIES will include all of the interviews the Chicago Gay History Project has conducted to date, with new biographies added monthly. More than 250 video interviews are included, with hundreds of additional people included through online surveys, articles and photos. Some people were interviewed with their partner in life, or with their business partner. So their video interview and transcript may be with their individual interview, and/or with the person they were interviewed with.
4) TOPIC AREAS will feature articles and photos about various topics related to Chicago gay history. Many of these will be original pieces written for Out and Proud: An Overview of Chicago's Gay Community, edited by Tracy Baim and available summer 2008 from Surrey Books. Additional articles will be culled from Windy City Times' extensive archives, and more will be written specifically for this Web site.
5) EVENTS We have a limited amount of video from actual GLBT community events and conferences. We will be adding to this section as funds and time permits, and we welcome contributions from the community to these event archives, especially of past gay pride and other events from the 1970s and 1980s.
6) RESOURCES includes a bibliography of books that historians and researchers will find informative, either about Chicago specifically, or about gay history in general. It also lists libraries and archives which have been helpful, as well as individuals who have donated materials.
7) STORE will be a place where you can eventually buy the Out and Proud book online, plus individual photos and videos from this Web site, all as a fundraiser to help the Chicago Gay History Project cover its extensive costs.
8) CONTACT is our basic contact information for this project. Tracy Baim and Prairie Avanue Productions are the producers of this site.
9) Across the second line of navigation buttons are things such as CIVIC/COMMUNITY, LEGAL, etc. All of the people listed in the BIOGRAPHIES section have been further categorized by the areas of the community they serve, with some overlaps between categories. This is just an additional way to find people, and the same is true for the A-Z function bar.
Along the BOTTOM set of buttons, here's what you will be able to find:
1) PARTNERS/SPONSORS are individuals, companies and foundations who have assisted through funding or advice for the Chicago Gay History Project.
2) STAFF/ADVISORS is a list of the dozens of people who played a role in creating this site, including volunteers and paid professionals, from video shooters and video editors to writers, photographers and text editors.
3) GAY PRESS ARCHIVES will include either text or PDF document scans of a wide range of gay and feminist publications from Chicago's past.
4) PROMOTIONS/TRAILERS will have some teaser short films about the project, featuring people interviewed.
5) AIDS: IN MEMORIAM is a listing of some of the many Chicagoans lost to AIDS, based on the same tribute in Windy City Times, at www.windycitymediagroup.com.
We hope that this project will continue to grow with additional interviews. So please sign up on the front page for the NEWSLETTER so that you can receive regular updates about new additions to the project.
