Conversation | We Will Not Be Erased: Queer Archives, Trans Histories

For over forty years, cultural historian Steven Watson has documented the stories and artwork at the leading edge of artistic and cultural movements, including the movement for queer and trans liberation. Working in collaboration with filmmaker William Markarian-Martin, Steven recently launched Artifacts, making his collection of rare, firsthand accounts from pioneers such as Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Holly Woodlawn, and many others accessible to students, researchers, and anyone interested in connecting to queer and trans history. Watson’s archival collection foregrounds the importance of engaging with and animating trans and queer histories in order to combat the present-day erasure of trans lives.

Watson will be in conversation with trans artist and activist Tourmaline, whose work on narrating, preserving, and celebrating Marsha P. Johnson’s life has drawn extensively on Watson’s Artifacts. Tourmaline’s repertoire of film and book projects on Marsha includes the first full-length biography on her life, MARSHA: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson (Penguin Random House, 2025). This event is part of a series that begins with Tourmaline’s Helen Pond McIntyre ‘48 Lecture at BCRW on November 6th.