ILLUMINATION is an annual community-led story collection project of the Springfield History Museum that celebrates undertold history and perspectives in Springfield and rural east Lane County. Each project collection is responsive and centers a minority community who is underrepresented in the Museum collections. The work is led by a project team who has lived experience and affinity within each centered community to develop the local historical narrative, and to collect contemporary oral histories and photographs of community members.
The Springfield History Museum currently has four ILLUMINATION community collections:
- Latino
- Asian American & Pacific Islander
- Black & African American
- American Indian & Alaska Native
Each new chapter of ILLUMINATION is developed in direct response to requests from our local historically marginalized communities to address the lack of inclusive representation in our Museum collection.
| SAVE THE DATE – Exhibit Opening Celebration Friday, December 11, 2026 Questions, ideas or interest in the LGBTQIA2S+ ILLUMINATION project, please email [email protected]. Springfield History Museum | 6th & Main | FREE |
| This next project collection will center the LGBTQIA2S+ experience in Springfield and rural east Lane County. Lake Castagna (they/she) of Queer Eugene has signed on as the consultant for the project, offering a culturally responsive lens and affirming care for all project participants. This includes but is not limited to linguistic and cultural affirmation, structural and environmental safety, community-centered and trauma-informed engagement, and humility. |
| Our success hinges on establishing trust and relationships with a network of individuals (and partner organizations that service them) who identify on the LGBTQIA2S+ spectrum. In particular we want to center and prioritize individuals of color and those who experience a disability. Our intention is to welcome people together in community to engage with the Museum in developing the collection, exhibit and related program activities that celebrate and elevate their community. |
| Here is a quote from a local Springfield parent raising a trans child in our community: “I know first-hand that visibility is key. My child would not have so confidently grasped their own identity if it were not for the visibility of others in the LGBT community. Similarly, our own visibility has helped others come to accept the LGBT members of their own family. I have seen the ILLUMINATION project shine a light on many marginalized communities already. It would mean a lot to further help normalize queer identities in Springfield in the same way.” |
Please consider sharing YOUR voice to help inform this project collection. Queer Eugene and Springfield History Museum will be hosting community gatherings for the LGBTQIA2S+ community. We’ll post dates, locations and details below!
We’ll be asking these questions:
- What does it look like, sound like, and feel like to celebrate and center your community with the Springfield History Museum and Public Library in Springfield and rural east Lane County?
- What should the opening celebrations and others look and feel like?
The Team
Alex Underwood (he/she) is a trans researcher, artist, and proud community member living in Eugene, Oregon. Alex is a community health worker at a trans-founded, trans-lead nonprofit, where he provides one-on-one assistance to trans and gender diverse folks legally changing their name and gender marker. Alex studied Sociology at the University of Oregon, where his concentration in queer studies sparked a passion for archival work. Alex has since spent time in different archival collections researching and writing about the influence of speculative fiction zines on queer dissemination practices, lesbian nightlife in 1970’s-80’s Eugene, and queer rights movements in Springfield following Measures 8 and In her free time, you may catch her roller skating by the river, writing comics, or hand-stitching puppets!
Yvette J. Saavedra, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Oregon. She is an intersectional socio-cultural historian and Chicana Studies scholar focusing on the nineteenth and twentieth century U.S and has published on topics in Chicana/o History, LGBTQ History, U.S.-Mexico Borderlands History, and Chicana Feminism among others. She is the author of Pasadena Before the Roses: Race, Identity, and Land Use in Southern California, 1771 – 1890 published by the University of Arizona Press in 2018. She is currently working on her second book tentatively titled Living la Mala Vida: Transgressive Femininities and Defiant Women in California, 1790-1870, and a third book project tracing the Lesbi-queer genealogy of Chicana feminism between 1970-2016. Saavedra’s research has been awarded the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies’ Antonia I. Castañeda Prize and the Catrónia R. Esquibel Recognition, as well as the Western History Association- Huntington Library Martin Ridge Fellowship. One of the main goals of Saavedra’s research, teaching, and scholarship is to recuperate the voices and experiences of people and groups relegated to the margins of history.
Hi! My name is Arynne Graham, and I am honored to be the photographer for this year’s ILLUMINATION Project. I grew up among the forests and streams of this valley, and I carry a deep love for this place and the people who call it home. Through this project, I hope to create photographs that reflect each interviewee with honesty, warmth, dignity, and care.
When I’m not behind the camera, you can often find me fishing on the river or exploring the mountains that surround this beautiful land.
Katherine Gunning is a Portland-based photographer and award-winning filmmaker with a background in documentary storytelling and a deep commitment to care-driven creative work. Originally from the American South, she’s passionate about exploring themes of
belonging, identity, and place. She holds a Master’s of Multimedia Journalism from the University of Oregon, and her work has supported a wide range of artists, authors, and mission-driven organizations.
John D. Sutter is an award-winning environmental journalist, documentary filmmaker, and media educator with more than 15 years of experience in climate storytelling and investigative reporting. He is an assistant professor of environmental media at the
University of Oregon.
Lake Castagna (they/she) Co-founder and Volunteer Executive Director of the non-profit Queer Eugene; runs a consulting agency called Castagna Consulting. Their work focuses on supporting the community to have their needs met, through access to resources and
relationship-building opportunities. A lot of their work focuses on supporting schools to become sites of belonging for students, from queer and disability lenses, and supporting community growth through education and training.
Explore the current collections, here
If you have questions, ideas or interest in the LGBTQIA2S+ ILLUMINATION project, please email [email protected].