About TQHP

The Tufts Queer History Project started as a Tufts Summer Scholars Research Project proposed by the fifth Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center Director, Dona Yarbrough in 2006. Elena Mead, then a sophomore, was awarded the research scholar grant and worked with the director on the project. This website is the culmination of Elena's work. The main objective of TQHP is to both reflect on the achievements and challenges of the Tufts queer community, and to connect our past with our present.

The timeline starts in the 1969-1970 academic school year. This choice was made based on national trends in queer history, which were loosely paralleled at Tufts. While the U.S. gay liberation is often said to have started with the Stonewall Riots in July 1969, Tufts gay liberation may have started out at the 1969 graduation ceremony, when a student came out on stage.

This website allows students, staff, faculty and alumni at Tufts to be heard. In a special interactive element, several documentaries outline key events in the Tufts queer experience. In the years to come, more information will be collected and displayed for general use.