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Interpreting the Queer Past
Presented by Concord Pride
June 21 at 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Join Dr. Matt Champagne for a discussion on queer history and how it is represented at historic sites.
The lives of famous people like Friedrich Wilhem von Steuben, James Buchanan, Ma Rainey band others provoke serious questions about how to appropriately discuss the queer past, The intense bonds some historic figures formed with members of the same sex, the homoerotic ways some historic figures expressed themselves artistically, the eccentric belongings some historic figures held dearest, the flamboyant character traits with which some historic figures became synonymous, and the special ways some historic figures supported themselves lead some historians to posit that these elements show queer people and queer networks existed prior to the gay rights movement that emerged in the twentieth century.
Profiled in Champagnes’ upcoming book Things Not Allowed in the House: Interpreting the Queer Past at Museums and Historic Sites are institutions responsible for interpreting the legacies of such people and their networks. For these individuals and their acquaintances, rumors abound and contradictory evidence exists because they either lived in an age before the advent of positive terms to describe queer identities or they kept their comfortability with such affirming terms closely guarded secrets. These figures and their networks will never be able to ‘come out’ nor ‘set the record straight.’ This begs the question: how should museums and historic sites interpret such historic figures and the circles to which they belonged?
While using modern terms to describe the experiences of these individuals and their closest companions arguably constitutes historical inaccuracy, so too does the tradition of trivializing queer historic figures as ‘confirmed bachelors’ or their relationships as those of ‘just good friends.’ Things Not Allowed in the House refrains from making any definitive determinations regarding the rumors that surround queer people and queer networks. Instead, as a work of public history, this research lays bare the ways museums and historic sites use interpretation to extinguish or facilitate dialogue around the queer past. Through an analysis of interpretive approaches deployed at a variety of museums and historic sites where queer people once lived, Thing Not Allowed in the House shows the implicit and explicit ways institutional homophobia and transphobia plague traditional public history theory and practice. It also highlights some institutions that confront these problematic approaches; through which, Things Not Allowed in the House shows how some museums and historic sites are made into safe places for queer people to seek out their past.
More About Dr. Champagne
Dr. Matthew Champagne graduated from the Public History Ph.D. program at North Carolina State University (NC State) after graduating from Pace University in New York City. At the end of his undergraduate experience, Champagne received degrees in Classics, history, and theater. He also earned the academic accolades of the Benjamin T. Ford Award in history and the Charles H. Dyson Award, while at Pace. At NC State, Champagne received first place in the humanities category at the 2022 Graduate Student Research Symposium. He also represented NC State at the James A. Barnes Conference in 2017, the annual meeting of the National Council on Public History in 2019, and the annual meeting of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association in 2021. Additionally, at NC State, Champagne autonomously taught undergraduate courses on United States history, public history, and sexuality history.
Over the last decade, Champagne also served in a variety of leadership roles at historic sites and nonprofits. Through his experiences in the field, Champagne developed educational programs for Eagle Project in New York, New York; the Fairbanks House Museum in Dedham, Massachusetts; the Page-Walker Arts & History Center in Cary, North Carolina; and the Surratt House Museum in Clinton, Maryland. Additionally, he is a dedicated world traveler, both as a tourist and academic, and participated in events hosted at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, the Dramatic Arts Center in Iran, and the University of Essex in England. Based on his work in the field of public history, with fellow graduate students Katie Schinabeck and Sarah A. M. Soleim, Champagne recently co-authored “Free History Lessons: Contextualizing Confederate Monuments in North Carolina” for Teachable Monuments: Using Public Art to Spark Dialogue and Confront Controversies.
Please contact [email protected] with any questions regarding this event.
