January 27-February 17, 2024 – History Within Us, Presented by One Institute’s Youth Ambassadors for Queer History

One Institute’s Youth Ambassadors for Queer History — six high school student leaders from across Los Angeles County — have spent the last several months exploring their interests in queer and trans history through archival research, presentations, workshops, and field trips with LGBTQ+ scholars, activists, artists, and community leaders. Using materials from the digital collections of ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, each Youth Ambassador has developed a creative research project, which they will present and reflect on in this culminating celebration. 

Our passionate, brilliant Youth Ambassadors represent grades 9-12 and a diversity of L.A. neighborhoods from Santa Monica, Long Beach, North Hollywood, Pasadena, Boyle Heights, to South L.A. Their project topics range from funding of LGBTQ+ movements from the AIDS crisis to today, male impersonation in early 20th-century American theater, lesbian publications in the 1960s and 1970s, the impact of LGBTQ+ student organizations in colleges and high schools, community responses to the incarceration of Robert Rosenkrantz in the 1980s, and queer Latinx trailblazers in Los Angeles.

The opening reception will take place at One Gallery in West Hollywood on Saturday, January 27, 2024, from 3 to 5 PM. Additional visiting hours at the gallery are available February 15-17, 2024 from 12-5pm PT. Parking is available at the West Hollywood Library and can be validated for two hours in the first floor office.

At 3:15 PM, there will be a brief presentation where students will reflect on their experience in the program and be honored by elected leaders, including City of West Hollywood Mayor John Erickson, City of West Hollywood Vice Mayor Chelsea Byers, and Los Angeles County Third District Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. For our remaining time together, attendees are invited to enjoy refreshments, be in community, and view students’ projects on display.

Refreshments will include conchas bearing the rainbow and transgender flags from Los Angelitos Bakery, an LGBTQ+ youth-allied small business based in Huntington Park.

This event is a part of our Youth Ambassadors for Queer History program, made possible with support from the Dwight Stuart Youth Fund.

This program and event is organized by Trevor Ladner, Education Programs Manager at One Institute. Please contact Trevor at [email protected] with any questions.

Image credit: Promotional image by One Institute.