Sacramento surveys LGBTQ+ community to document history

LGBTQ+ history has been made in Sacramento — now the city is wanting to document it.

A California Pride Flag hangs from the front of a Victorian style home in Midtown, Sacramento.

Lavender Heights is a thriving hub in Midtown of LGBTQ-owned bars, businesses, restaurants, markets + more.

Photo by SACtoday staff

The LGBTQ+ Experience Project

The City of Sacramento is launching an initiative to document the history of its LGBTQ+ community through the grant-funded LGBTQ+ Experience Project.

Sacramento is home to some monumental historic institutions for the LGBTQ+ community, like the Lavender Heights neighborhood, LGBT Community Center, gay clubs, thriving queer-owned businesses + policy advocacy to support human rights.

So, what does this project aim to do, and how can you participate?

Project Approach

In the next year, city historians will:

  • Collect oral history interviews from members of the public through an online portal
  • Outsource to individuals + institutions for photographs and other documents to create an archive
  • Survey the buildings + other structures of Lavender Heights for its potential as a historic district
  • Conduct in-depth historical research to produce a “thematic historic context statement”

Public Participation

Those interested in helping write history can:

  • Submit any documents, photographs, or stories through an online portal (coming soon) for the City’s archive
  • Sign up for updates on public meeting dates + project progress
  • Spread the word about the project to people in the community

And no — you don’t have to identify as LGBTQ+ to help in whatever ways you can. Any and all are welcome to help bring this project to fruition, and fill in an important part of Sacramento history.

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