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LGBTQ Radio Research Project

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Brian's LGBTQ Radio Research Project and trip to the U.S. Library of Congress to present to the Radio Preservation Task Force.

I have the honor of being invited to the U.S. Library of Congress by the Radio Preservation Task Force and I need your help to fund a new LGBTQ radio research project and travel to Washington D.C. this November.

There are thousands of hidden LGBTQ radio programs broadcast on the five Pacifica Radio stations (in Berkeley, Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C. and Houston)  that are in various locations throughout the country that are  inaccessible to scholars, radio historians and the public due to insufficient cataloging and access. I may be the only person who can identify these recordings and aggregate them in a single survey to assist LGBTQ and radio scholars.

The funds would support the first 100 hours of research and travel/lodging expenses to the U.S. Library of Congress. Supported by the Chair of the LGBT caucus and the Director of the RPFT, the results will be used to apply for foundation grants to further the research and motivate the institutions to digitize and make the recordings accessible to the public for free.

In my initial research I discovered over 500 programs that include interviews, discussions, documentaries, dramatic readings, poetry and radio plays of LGBT icons like Allen Ginsberg, Christopher Isherwood, Adrienne Rich, Urvashi Vaid, W. H. Auden, Eleanor Roosevelt, John Cage, Rita Mae Brown and program series with titles like, Fruit Punch Collective, Gay Rap, Gay Freedom Days, AIDS in Focus, IMRU, and This Way Out.

The expansion of this work will include researching collections at UC Santa Barbara, the ONE Archives at USC, Columbia University, Berkeley Public Library, San Fransciso State University, New York Public Library, and private individual collections.

 About ME: I was the Director of the Pacifica Radio Archives for 19 years and executive producer and host of the first 550 episodes of the radio program "From The Vault". In my capacity I managed several preservation grants from the NHPRC at the National Archives NEA, GRAMMY foundation, the Ford foundation, and others to preserve and make recordings accessible to the public for free. Here is a link to one of those programs that documents a Timeline of Gay History from 1969-1979.

Thank you in advance for your support.
Brian DeShazor
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Donations 

  • Christopher Gaal
    • $50 
    • 5 yrs
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Organizer

Brian DeShazor
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA

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