Over the last few weeks, we’ve begun to get our feet wet in Amherst College history. In order to do so, we read Black Men of Amherst College and Black Women of Amherst College. I found both works incredibly interesting. If anything, I was left with an appetite to learn more and even more questions than answers. In particular, I found myself wondering what role queerness played in the lives of the folks depicted by Wade Jr. and Campbell. This silence has fueled my interest in pursuing the topic of black queerness at Amherst College. This week, I had the opportunity to go into the archives for a bit to look through some of the GALA (Gay and Lesbian Alumni) records. I came across newsletters that documented the introduction of the Stonewall Prize (in August of 1990) and the highlights of Northern California meet-ups:
Later newsletters provided more information on the experiences of gay and lesbian Amherst folks after graduation: 
Finally, I came across reference to a GALA directory in one of the newsletters.
This led me to another file that held one such directory. In the coming weeks, I plan to use this directory as a starting point for my project on the black queer experience at Amherst.