Portraits of Jeffrey (Free) Harris and Shayne Watson courtesy of same.
Preserving and landmarking historic sites associated with significant events and people is critically important to promoting an understanding of our shared history. This is especially important for the LGBTQ community, so much of whose history has been occluded or deliberately erased. Architectural and preservation experts Jeffrey “Free” Harris and Shayne Watson will discuss how historians identify and prioritize LGBTQ sites worthy of preservation, and consider the steps involved in preservation and landmarking efforts. Among the topics to be highlighted will be sites of significant Black queer history and ongoing efforts to preserve the Lyon-Martin House in San Francisco.
SPEAKERS
Jeffrey A. “Free” Harris (he/him/his) is an independent historian and preservation consultant who works with historic preservation organizations, historic sites, nonprofit organizations and academic institutions on preservation issues related to diversity and historic site interpretations. He was the first Director for Diversity at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and he was recently appointed to Virginia’s Board of Historic Resources to a four-year term by the governor of that state. He also currently serves as the Board Chair of the Rainbow Heritage Network, a national organization that seeks to preserve historic sites related to the history of the LGBTQ community.
Shayne Watson (she/her/hers) is an architectural historian and preservation planner, and the founder of Watson Heritage Consulting, a Bay Area-based consultancy for architectural history and historc preservation planning. She is coauthor (with Donna Graves) of the Citywide Historic Context Statement for LGBTQ History in San Francisco (2016) and the San Francisco chapter of LGBTQ America (2016), a nationwide history of LGTBQ communities in the United States commissioned by the National Park Service. Shayne is founding chair of the GLBT Historical Society’s Historic Places Working Group and was the co-chair (with Terry Beswick) of the Arts, Culture, and Heritage Committee for San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ Cultural Heritage Strategy (2020).
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
This event will take place online. After you register, you will receive a confirmation email with a link and instructions on how to join online. The event will also be livestreamed on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GLBTHistory/ and then archived on our YouTube page at https://bit.ly/2UyGVbG.
ADMISSION
Free | Suggested donation of $5.00
Register online here: http://bit.ly/398SPyZ
ASL INTERPRETATION
ASL interpretation provided upon request. Please write at least three days in advance of event to leigh@glbthistory.org.
JOIN THE GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Become a member of the GLBT Historical Society for free museum and program admission, discounts in the museum shop and other perks: www.glbthistory.org/memberships.