At this year’s San Luis Obispo Pride Festival, a powerful moment of connection unfolded at the History Center of San Luis Obispo. As part of a month-long queer history exhibit, the Center featured a looping 20-minute video of oral histories from the Central Coast Queer Archive Project—a project supported by a California Humanities grant.
The small exhibit space remained full throughout the day. Cal Poly students sat alongside older community members, watching the full-length interviews without interruption or distraction. Some recognized familiar faces on screen, calling out names with delight: “Oh look, it’s Ray and Jamie—we haven’t seen them in years!”
This display of deep attention and intergenerational engagement was a vivid reminder of the project’s original goal: to preserve and share local queer histories in a way that fosters dialogue between generations. And four years after the grant concluded, it continues to do just that.
Humanities projects like this offer more than just documentation—they build bridges, spark memory, and create moments of joy, recognition, and belonging. We’re proud to see how these stories continue to resonate and bring people together long after the initial funding ends.
California Humanities was proudly credited in the exhibit presentation.
