Hello! My name is Payne Banister, and I am a second-year Ph.D. student in Theatre and Performance Studies. My research focuses on the historical, cultural, and spatial contexts in which queer nightlife performances occur and how queer nightlife is experienced (and potentially reexperienced) through objects, such as archival materials, and spaces such as nightclubs, dancefloors, and public spaces. Most recently, I’ve been interested in how spaces and objects might be considered mediators for performances of queer sexual desire. Additionally, I am interested in the space-making practices of queer communities from the 1950s-1980s, which has led me to consider how queer archives are or are not preserved.

When planning my move to Pittsburgh, I was excited to hear about Pittsburgh Queer History Project and its efforts to preserve and celebrate the city’s queer legacies. After arriving in Pittsburgh, I was especially thrilled to learn about the MS89 series, a manifestation of the organization’s commitment to sharing these histories with the Pittsburgh queer community. After I learned about the Humanities Engage Immersive fellowships and attended my first MS89 event in October 2022, I knew I wanted to get involved with the Pittsburgh Queer History Project. I contacted the organization’s co-founder, co-director, and host of the MS89 events, Dr. Harrison Apple, about the opportunity and was elated when they agreed to host my fellowship experience.

Founded in 2012 by Dr. Apple, Pittsburgh Queer History Project is a volunteer and community-based oral history and media archive focusing on working-class queer nightlife from the 1960s to the 1990s. While archives are often assumed to be written materials encountered in isolating reading rooms or solitary computer searches, archival records can take many other formats, such as videos, recordings, and live performances, reflected in the organization’s online archive. Pittsburgh Queer History Project also hosts workshops, special exhibits, and screenings, like their ongoing MS89 series, named after their first event, which showcased a taping of the Miss Pittsburgh 1989 drag pageant. MS89 is a free-of-charge, in-person screening series that features archival videos, including drag pageants, HIV/AIDS fundraisers, queer cable network programs, and leather competitions. At each MS89 event, a community member involved in making the evening’s screening materials serves as a cohost who contextualizes the material and participates in a post-show question-and-answer session. The audiences at MS89 are often intergenerational--some encountering these archival materials for the first time, while others are revisiting moments they vividly remember. Responding in real-time to the videos as they play, audiences at MS89 react in real-time, whether it be shouting affirmations for the entertainers on the screen or clapping after their performances; the live audience often mirrors the behaviors of the recorded audience. These live events offer space for intergenerational community-making through these communal viewing experiences and the conversations in the question-and-answer portion.

Learn about all the projects from the Pitch Your Own Summer Immersive Opportunity for Ph.D. Students