Finding History at the Crossroads

Greetings Steemit! This is @dduquette, better known as Derek Duquette. I am a second-year graduate student in Temple University's Public History program, and a public historian based in Philadelphia interested in everything from the history of intellectual and developmental disability and the stories of the local lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) community, to historic preservation and archival practice. Above all, I am interested in the ways the above themes intersect.

About my Work

In the past, I worked as the Organization of American Historians' LGBTQ+ Heritage Initiative intern on the National Park Service North East Regional Office's LGBTQ+ Heritage Initiative in Philadelphia. In this role I assessed and documented sites in Philadelphia connected to LGBTQ+ historical themes for potential nomination to local and national historic registries. The above picture of "Little Pete's" served as a rallying point for me. In April 1965, Dewey's on 17th Street, part of a local restaurant chain, was the site of the first successful LGBTQ+ sit-in in United States history. However, Dewey's, which became Little Pete's in the 1970s, was slated for demolition in 2017. Dewey's/Little Pete's fate inspired my passion for preserving LGBTQ+ historic sites.

In addition to working on a list of sites for NPS to nominate to the National Register, I also conducted an outreach project via memory mapping at the June 2017 Philly PrideFest, asking participants to mark on a physical map where they first felt at home in Philadelphia's LGBTQ+ community. This project provided invaluable preliminary information on the kinds of places that matter most to LGBTQ+ Philadelphians.

• Above is a picture of the map used for my Philly PrideFest Memory Mapping Project. As you can see, many of the results were clustered within Philadelphia's Center City neighborhood with a smattering of sites elsewhere in the city.

Prior to joining Temple University's Public History MA Program, I earned my dual Bachelor's degree in German and History from West Chester University in 2016. While at West Chester, I interned with the Pennhurst Memorial and Preservation Alliance (PMPA) and the Elwyn School, creating and adding to their archives and finding aids respectively, and writing grant proposals for the latter’s future endeavors.

• This is an image from 2015 of what was once the Administration Building for the Pennhurst State School and Hospital, an institution for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities which opened its doors in 1908 and finally, thankfully closed them for good in 1987.

Things To Come

On Steemit I intend to post stories centered around the year 1918, as this year marks its centennial. 1918 was an eventful and tumultuous year. Given my background in disability history, I would like to take this opportunity to bring greater awareness to the stories of people with disabilities, both in conjunction and in addition to stories of other events that took place in 1918. I really believe that Steemit provides an excellent and exciting opportunity for me to share these stories with a broader audience. So stay tuned!

100% of the SBD rewards from this #philly5151 post will support the Philadelphia History initiative @phillyhistory. This crypto-experiment is part of a graduate course at Temple University's Center for Public History and is exploring history and empowering education to endow meaning. To learn more click here.​