We use oral history to create primary sources that preserve and activate queer and trans life stories.
Founded in 2014 and directed by Professor Elspeth H. Brown at the University of Toronto Mississauga, the Collaboratory designs and conducts large-scale oral history projects in partnership with community members and archival institutions.
The Collaboratory is not itself an archive. Instead, it develops interview collections through collaborative research processes and works closely with archival partners who steward recordings, transcripts, and metadata for long-term preservation and access.
This partnership-based model advances new approaches to digital history, ethical archival practice, and collaborative research. Our projects experiment with sensory and embodied interviewing methods, foreground relational consent and reparative archival practice, and bring queer and trans histories into public circulation through collaborative digital storytelling.
The Collaboratory is supported by a multi-year research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
Our work combines the creation of new primary sources with meaningful public access and engagement.
Over 450 oral histories and partnerships with multiple archives ensure LGBTQ+ life is documented and preserved for the long term.
We share research through public and digital exhibits, finding aids, community events, and interactive digital projects.
Our team produces publications, conference presentations, and research outputs that advance LGBTQ+ studies and history.
We provide guidance and learning opportunities for students and community members to build skills and knowledge.
We work with archival and digital history partners across Canada and the U.S., sharing resources, expertise, and ideas to develop new research and archival methods.
