In honor of Pride Month, June’s episode of Hidden Histories explores the spaces that archive the history of LGBT life in San Antonio and celebrates the artists and activists who have made that history sing. We open with UTSA archivist Melissa Gohlke, who curates the largest LGBTQ collection in Texas, and also hear from Rene Saenz on the community archives under development at the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. From these local collections, we turn our attention to Rebel Mariposa, radical restauranteur and owner of La Botanica, one of San Antonio’s most celebrated vegan restaurants and queer arts spaces. In between, we showcase performances by the late and great Sterling Houston—playwright, musician, and Jump-Start performer—and Los MENtirosos, San Antonio’s premiere drag king troupe. We close the night with filmmaker Noi Mahoney, director of Hap Veltman’s San Antonio Country, followed by a screening of his documentary about one of San Antonio’s most famous disco-era gay clubs.

As an online arts and culture magazine, Hidden Histories pursues and preserves the underexplored stories, lives, and places which make San Antonio and surrounding regions an inspiring cultural treasure. Each monthly episode uncovers important cultural histories of the region by featuring archival interviews with artists and community leaders; significant performances by musicians, dancers and poets; forgotten documentaries and narrative films; and vintage discussions of important community issues. In uncovering and generating the archives which hold these stories, Hidden Histories endeavors to move beyond the public humanities to one that is truly community-based.

All episodes air on the first Monday of the month, and can be viewed online for FREE on our website (https://urban15.org/live-stream/)  OR on our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/TheUrban15Group). Afterwards, episodes are archived online for 24/7 access at http://hiddenhistories.tv/archives.

For more information on the series, visit http://hiddenhistories.tv

URBAN-15 is supported in part by the City of San Antonio Department of Arts and Culture, The San Antonio Film Commission, Texas Commission on the Arts, Humanities Texas, Bexar County Community Resources, The City of San Antonio Department of Human Services, Impact San Antonio Foundation, HEB Tournament of Champions, The Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation, VuTURE Art and friends of URBAN-15.