Lunchtime Lagniappe: Before They're Gone: Snapshots and Memories of At-risk Queer Spaces Through Virtual Tours and Oral Histories with Dr. Catherine Cooper

LGBTQ+ sites—including homes, bars, bookstores, and meeting places—are at risk of disappearing.  The National Center for Preservation, Technology & Training (NCPTT) is working with partners across Louisiana and the South to document at-risk sites as identified by local queer communities and collect memories of why these sites are important. The Faerie Playhouse in New Orleans was documented in 2022 as the template for the work moving forward.  The Faerie Playhouse was the home of Stewart Butler, an activist for human rights and the LGBTQ+ community and remains important to the local community after Stewart’s passing in March 2020.
 
Dr. Catherine Cooper is a Research Scientist in the Technical Services Program at NCPTT. She is assisting with in-house research and providing technical preservation consulting and services to other NPS units and beyond. Dr. Cooper earned her Ph.D. in Anthropology/Archaeological Chemistry at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C., where she specialized in using light stable isotope analysis to understand human dietary variation. Prior to joining NCPTT, she completed postdoctoral work at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum and the Arizona State Museum.
 
Free and open to the public
 
Visitors are welcome to bring their lunch and eat during the presentation
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