Arkansas Drag Community Oral History Project

Arkansas has a rich history of contributions to Drag culture, from Miss Gay Arkansas to the success of Arkansan contestants on Ru Paul’s Drag Race.

The Arkansas Drag Community Oral History Project empowers community members to document the story of Drag in Arkansas and is seeking community contributors to conduct interviews for the project in Central Arkansas. The CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies is assisting in these efforts.

If you have questions about the project, please reach out to Community Outreach Archivist Danielle Afsordeh at dtafsordeh@cals.org.

Conducting an Oral History

Preparing for the Interview

• Arkansas Drag Community Oral History Project training guide
• CALS Oral History Resources
• Story Corps Best Practices for Conducting an Interview – VIDEO
• Story Corps Tips for a Great Conversation
• Books and archival resources for historical context

Recording the Interview

• Using Your Cell Phone and Using Zoom to capture an interview – VIDEO
• We have a recording room available for video and audio interviews with equipment provided at the Roberts Library. To reserve the recording room please call 501.320.5700 or email alancaster@cals.org or gwhaley@cals.org.

Preserving the Interview

• To donate your interview: email interview file and completed AGREEMENT to dtafsordeh@cals.org.
  We recommend printing two forms and signing both so that each of you has a copy of the form to keep. If you need us to provide a printed form, contact the email above.
• If you do not choose to donate the interview, remember that lots of copies keeps stuff safe. Try to store the interview in more than one file storage location to ensure its long-term preservation.