UE Queer Memory Project: Living Memory, Living Justice

Tonight at A Taste of History (Evansville African American Museum event), I picked up a copy of Kelley Coures' Indignation: A History of Politics and Race in Evansville, Indiana, 1870–1950.

Many people in our community know Kelley as the author of Out in Evansville and as someone who has shared his experiences and insights with students in the Q***r Memory Project. His work reminds us that history is not neatly divided into separate categories. The same person can help preserve LGBTQ+ history, local political history, and African American history.

One of the lessons we hope students take from the Memory Project is that identities, communities, and histories intersect. Understanding Evansville's past requires us to look across those boundaries and recognize how different stories connect to one another.

Preserving memory is not the work of a single community. It is a shared responsibility

The Q***r Memory Project exists because memory matters.

Today, on the anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting, we remember the 49 people whose lives were taken and the countless others whose lives were forever changed.

Remembering is an act of justice. It is a commitment to ensuring that LGBTQ+ lives, communities, losses, and joys are not forgotten.

Today we remember. 🏳️‍🌈❤️

Happy Pride! 🌈🌈🌈

Come visit the Pride Camp booth at Evansville Pride today!

Please follow our youth program at UE Pride Camp! 🌈

One of the things we've learned through the Q***r Memory Project is that LGBTQ+ history isn't only about the past.

The stories we're preserving today exist because people create community spaces, organize events, support one another, and show up.

Here's a look at how River City Pride is doing all those things during Pride Month throughout the Evansville region. 🌈

🌈✨ Pride Month is here, Evansville Region! ✨🌈
Get ready for a full month of love, joy, and unapologetic self-expression! Our June 2026 Pride Calendar is packed with events that celebrate you: your identity, your story, your community. 💖
📅 Check out the full calendar and make your plans to show up, speak out, and shine all month long!
Haynie's Corner Arts District | Owensboro Blue Bridge Pride | Indy Pride | World Wrestling Alliance | Azzip Pizza | Elevate Crawls | Evansville Otters | The Oxford Comma Trivia Club | Henderson KY Pride Inc. | Evansville Cultural Experience | Lyle's

This gets at so much of what we are trying to do through Journey to Justice.

Historic places like Stonewall are spaces where ongoing conversations about memory, visibility, and justice continue to happen. When students visited Stonewall this spring, they encountered not only the history of the uprising itself, but also the current debates over how LGBTQ+ history is interpreted, preserved, and remembered.

Place-based learning matters because history feels different when you stand where it happened.