What is your name?
Blair Black
When did you start/how long have you been volunteering at ONE?
I've been volunteering for about two years.
What is your favorite part about volunteering at ONE?
Processing new collections! I think there's something deeply intimate and informative about processing different papers, photos, and ephemera of someone's life. I also quite enjoy the challenge of sorting and organizing collections.
Do you have a favorite collection or item you have come across?
Processing the Ivy Bottini collection is my favorite because of the sheer size and the materials I got to process. Although the collection is about 14 boxes, I worked through maybe 4 or so. And processing her correspondences and family photos grounded my understanding of her as a person and not just this really prolific LGBTQ and feminist activist.
What is the weirdest/funniest task you have done while volunteering?
Although shelving is a fairly innocuous library procedure, it's always really funny to see the cheesy names and covers of the gay and lesbian romance/erotica novels housed in the archive bookshelves.
What is something that you have learned about queer history while working with the collection that surprised you or you didn’t know before?
Learning just how much Los Angeles's queer institutions, riots, and civil rights movements pre-date Stonewall.
What is something about ONE that people might not know but you wish they did?
The staff is incredibly knowledgeable, well connected, and willing to help you.
What has brought you joy recently during the pandemic and uprisings?
Animal Crossing New Horizons!