K.J. Rawson

Many archives collect transgender-related historical materials; however, these materials are notoriously difficult to access since transgender materials are rarely described as such, very little information about these collections is digitized, archives that collect these materials are largely disconnected, and archives employ varying organizational systems. Building the Digital Transgender Archive will dramatically improve access to transgender history by creating a website that functions as a centralized hub for transgender historical materials. The Digital Transgender Archive will feature a searchable database of metadata and select digital content contributed by a number of archives in the US and Canada. To virtually merge these disparate archival collections, the DTA will provide a flexible database that will accommodate a range of metadata, will have highly adaptable search features, and will be searchable and indexable through web search engines. With its promise of opening up research opportunities, fresh research pathways, and inter-archive collaboration, this type of metadata aggregation and centralized digital archiving could be widely replicated with many other themes and topics.

In light of the ever-increasing interest in transgender phenomena, this project expands the Digital Transgender Archive (DTA), a website that functions as an online clearinghouse for transgender history. The DTA is a collaborative repository that already contains more than 2,000 digitized primary source historical materials including oral histories, personal papers, organizational records, serials, photographs, and ephemera, all contributed by more than two dozen collaborators. Building off the initial development that was supported by an ACLS Digital Innovation Fellowship, this grant will significantly extend the scope and diversity of the collection while strengthening several existing collaborative relationships.