Joey Plaster is an independent public historian, radio producer, and freelance journalist. His public history projects have focused on San Francisco's Polk Street, pre-gay liberation Oberlin College, and street youth in the Tenderloin. A graduate of Oberlin College, Joey has produced radio documentary for KALW and transom.org and worked at The Nation and the SF Bay Guardian. He is now Director of the GLBT Historical Society Oral History Program.

You may contact Joey at joey@glbthistory.org.

Joey Plaster's Current Projects

Director, Oral History Program

In the tradition of collaborative journalism and community-based history, the GLBTHS Oral History Program will record, preserve, and publicize surprising and overlooked queer personal histories from the Bay Area.

Every six months, professional oral historians and radio producers will train a volunteer collective of 4-10 people, which will collect, edit, and publicize oral histories associated with two broad themes.

The program aims to:

• Challenge and expand popular GLBT political and social narratives by publicizing surprising, three-dimensional stories from everyday people.

• Foster connections and conversation through the oral history process, public “listening parties,” partnerships with local radio stations, etc.

• Partner with community-building organizations associated with chosen themes that may benefit from a “stories project” or institutional history.

• Create opportunities for oral history to inform public policy and support the creation of novel support networks, institutions, and creative expression.

Polk Stories Radio Documentary, with Jay Allison

By the end of 2009, Jay Allison and Joey Plaster will create an hour-long news radio documentary program based on oral histories from the Polk Street History Project. The piece will be profiled on transom.org and available for broadcast through PRX.

Vanguard Revisted, with Rev. Megan Rohrer

Vanguard has been described as the first gay liberation organization and first gay and transgendered youth organization in the country. It was founded by Tenderloin youth in 1966 with the support of liberal ministers, and in the context of a federally funded anti-poverty campaign.

Our new publication will be a modern-day “conversation” with Vanguard Magazine, produced by youth and ministers from 1966 to 1968. Pairing original texts with new writings by religious leaders, youth, and others, we will probe parallels between past and current anti-poverty work in the LGBT community.

Mental Health Stories Project

Social stigma is often a barrier to identifying with and understanding the needs of people living with mental illnesses. Compounding this divide is the fact that many people living with mental illness are not able to create life narratives in a way that the general public can understand.

This project will find innovative ways to present these stories. Because people living with mental illnesses may have difficulty communicating verbally, we will explore communication through music and visuals. We will also stitch together stories from people who are close to narrators. Stories will be presented through a multimedia site and via the radio.

Radio Documentary: Emperor Norton

This radio piece will explore the narrative of Emperor Norton – the celebrated San Francisco “lunatic” who, in 1859, proclaimed himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico.

He was treated respectfully – even deferentially – in San Francisco. He issued state proclamations published in San Francisco’s newspapers, was fed free in San Francisco's best restaurants, and was so beloved that 30,000 people turned out for his funeral in 1880.

José Sarria, a drag queen and early gay activist, proclaimed himself “Her Royal Majesty, Empress of San Francisco, José I, The Widow Norton” in 1964, establishing the Imperial Court System, an international network of charitable organizations.

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