Berks County Community Foundation (BCCF) assigned an $8,875 grant for start-up funds from the Hawley and Myrtle Quire Fund to Reading Pride Celebration (RPC) to collect and preserve the history of the LGBTQ community in Reading and Berks County.
The Rainbow Letters: A Living History of the LGBTQA+ Community of Greater Reading is a joint project with the Berks History Center that will preserve personal accounts, photos, diaries, journals, and audio and video files about people, locations, social gatherings, and organizations that were/are part of the LGBTQA+ community in Berks.
“Our stories matter and we want to be sure our legacy in Berks County does not go unwritten”, said RPC’s Acting Vice President, Ben Renkus. “Our modern history goes further than the Stonewall riots and our community have been part of Greater Reading’s development and history along the decades. We are excited and grateful to the BCCF for their support of this important project.”
People interested in submitting stories can visit www.readingpridecelebration.org and fill out the preliminary survey form. A team will then reach out to schedules interviews to expand the information submitted and collect a more comprehensive history. All records will be digitalized and kept at the Berks History Center.
For further information, people can write to [email protected].
