Queer Newark Bibliography (prepared by Dr. Whitney Strub)

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“Mapping Newark” (A.K.A. “The Drew Project”) Between 1993 and 2003, Drew University ran “The Newark Project,” directed by famed anthropologist of religion Karen McCarthy Brown. The Newark Project aimed to document and map the entire religious landscape of Newark, from the major denominations and traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) to Asian religious traditions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism) to forms of spiritual life based on oral tradition and private practice usually overlooked by scholars. The Newark Project directors were particularly interested in the intersection of religion, gender, and sexuality with race, ethnicity, class and history. They did numerous interviews of LGBT people in Newark, ranging from House and Ballroom participants to gay Italian-American Catholics to LGBT priests and priestesses in Afro-Caribbean religions. The resulting archive of hundreds of interviews (all transcribed) and thousands of slides, documents, and material culture artifacts provides an unparalleled resource on the history of LGBT Newark, the AIDS crisis in Newark, and religious and cultural life in Newark. The archive, however, is not currently accessible to the public. We are working with Peter Savastano, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Seton Hall, who was one of the key staff members of the original Newark Project, and J. Terry Todd, Associate Professor of American Religious Studies at Drew University, to find an accessible home for these archives, ideally in Newark. Our Queer Newark Oral History Project will be building upon the foundation created by Drew University’s “Mapping Newark” project in order to preserve the invaluable history and culture of LGBT Newark. Foundational to Drew’s “Mapping Newark” project was the idea of reciprocity. They based all of their oral history work upon the understanding that Newark’s residents had wisdom to share with university-trained scholars, while university-trained scholars had skills and insights they could share with members of the community. They understood their “mapping” as a form of community organizing. Our Queer Newark Oral History Project is proud to build upon Drew University’s insights about the political importance of reciprocity in collecting, preserving, and sharing Newark’s LGBT history. Please read the link below for a wonderful article describing Drew’s “Mapping Newark” project.

Drew Project PDF Link

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LGBT Students & Allies Guide, http://www.newark.rutgers.edu/lgbtq