MLIS Archives Practicum Project

PROMO is a grassroots LGBTQ+ nonprofit that lobbies for privacy rights laws in Missouri.

I researched their history over the last 40 years (1986-2026) and developed it into a narrative for exposition at their 40th anniversary gala.

I worked with:

-Washington University's LGBTQ+ collection

-The State Historical Society of Missouri 

-Missouri Historical Society.

The expo was printed on eight different 8 ft roll out canvases and toured across Missouri.

Two outlines were created from the archives research conducted for this project.

1. A rough outline of the archival research.  It included notable information about key events in PROMO's history.

2. A chronological timeline of major events.  I submitted this to PROMO's communications department.  

PROMO did not have much record of their own history before the project began.

Two drafts of the narrative were created.

1. A developed narrative from the collected research that was split into eight themes.  I presented this to my supervisor and was given feedback about developing it further.

2. A second draft for the designer that was broken up into short sections of information.  These text "blurbs" were meant to make the information more visually accessible.

Each block of text in the second draft was connected to a scanned in visual from the archives.  I chose these images to accent the text.

Research notes and images were uploaded into the app Box.  I organized the images with keywords so that I could find them easily.