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the Stonewall Riots in New York City—and illustrated the evolution of LGBTQ rights, advocacy, community needs, and queer joy through the present day.”

The exhibition recounted stories from the recent past about queer student groups, Iowa City businesses and organizations, and publications by showing a variety of documents, photos, artifacts, and ephemera from local archives. Items in the exhibition were selected from materials available in the University Archives, the Iowa Women’s Archives, and Special Collections and Archives at the UI Libraries as well as from the LGBTQ

Iowa Archives & Library (LIAL), a community organization in Iowa City.

Hoberg was also able to procure a few objects, stories, and statements for display directly from community members. “I am beyond grateful for the people who trusted us with their personal artifacts, their histories, their voices. They enriched the exhibit and made it more ‘real,’” she said.

From curation to conservation, design, installation, project management, and more, behind-the-scenes contributors to exhibit production are plentiful. “I think the most surprising part of creating an exhibit was the continued on page 38 number of people who are involved,” says Hoberg, who served in a curatorial role for the first time with Out & About. “There are so many moving parts.”

One of the people Hoberg worked with was former colleague Aiden Bettine, who is now curator of the Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies at the University of Minnesota Libraries. He helped Hoberg make selections of physical items from the several collections available. Working on this exhibition was important to Hoberg from a professional perspective as a librarian interested in archives work, but also on a personal level.

“To me and my spouse, the Iowa City queer community is our family," says Hoberg. "Seeing the friendly face of someone who knows and accepts you as your truest and fullest self is an indescribable experience. Everyone deserves that type of love and community support. There are places at the University of Iowa and in Iowa City where you can find safety, support, and validation. We see you. We hear you. We value you. We want you here. You are so important to our history and our future.”