2016 Boswell Initiative
In addition to sponsoring the annual John Boswell Lecture, in 2016 the Boswell Initiative supported student research and presentations of the William & Mary LGBTIQ Research Project: Documenting the LGBTIQ Past in Virginia.
The project aims to better understand, chronicle, and preserve the history of LGBTIQ people in Virginia. Beginning with research at the Library of Virginia, the Virginia Historical Society, Virginia Commonwealth University, William & Mary, and other archives, student researchers engage communities, preserve knowledge, and discover histories related to LGBTIQ experiences in our state. The launch of this research project was also aided by the Mattachine Society of Washington, DC, one of the nation's oldest gay rights organizations, and is part of a larger national effort to document the histories of LGBTIQ people and the policies and laws that have affected their lives.
Student research, under faculty guidance, focuses on state laws and policies that affected and may still affect the lives of LGBTIQ people and communities in the Commonwealth.
