{"id":2000,"date":"2019-05-13T12:14:48","date_gmt":"2019-05-13T16:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/museums-society\/?post_type=people&p=2000"},"modified":"2025-04-03T09:24:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T13:24:22","slug":"joseph-plaster","status":"publish","type":"people","link":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/museums-society\/directory\/joseph-plaster\/","title":{"rendered":"Joseph Plaster"},"featured_media":2794,"template":"","role":[61],"filter":[],"class_list":["post-2000","people","type-people","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","role-faculty"],"acf":[],"post_meta_fields":{"_edit_lock":["1743686664:433"],"_edit_last":["433"],"_thumbnail_id":["2794"],"ecpt_people_alpha":["Plaster"],"ecpt_position":["Director, Tabb Center & Curator in Public Humanities"],"ecpt_degrees":["PhD, Yale University (American Studies)"],"ecpt_bio":["

Dr. Joseph Plaster is Curator in Public Humanities and Director of the\u00a0Winston Tabb Special Collections Research Center<\/a>\u00a0for the Sheridan Libraries & University Museums. In this capacity, he cultivates an exchange of knowledge between the university and greater Baltimore community through participatory action research, oral history initiatives, performance, and courses taught through the\u00a0 Program in Museums and Society<\/a>. His research and teaching combine archival, oral history, and public humanities methods to examine the world-making practices of marginalized publics in the United States, with a focus on intersections of gender, sexuality, and race.<\/p>\r\n

Plaster is the author of\u00a0 Kids on the Street: Queer Kinship and Religion in San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(Feb 2023, Duke University Press). Kids on the Street<\/em> explores the informal support networks that enabled abandoned and runaway queer youth to survive in tenderloin districts across the United States, and San Francisco's Tenderloin\u00a0in particular, over the past century. Drawing on archival,\u00a0ethnographic, oral history, and public humanities research, Plaster outlines the kinship networks, syncretic religious practices, storytelling traditions, and migratory patterns that allowed kids to foster forms of mutual aid. By highlighting a politics where the marginal position of street youth is the basis for a moral economy of reciprocity, Plaster excavates a history of queer life that has been overshadowed by major narratives of gay progress and pride.\u00a0Plaster\u2019s\u00a0academic writing<\/a>\u00a0has also appeared in\u00a0Radical History Review<\/em>,\u00a0The Public Historian<\/em>,\u00a0The Abusable Past<\/em>,\u00a0Kalfou,\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Plaster\u2019s\u00a0public humanities projects<\/a>\u00a0bring together diverse publics\u2014including curators, archivists, artists, and activists\u2014as partners in research and education.\u00a0He is the recipient of the National Council on Public History\u2019s 2023 Outstanding Public History Project Award for the\u00a0 Peabody Ballroom Experience<\/a>, an ongoing collaboration with the queer and trans artists of color who animate Baltimore\u2019s ballroom scene. As part of the faculty team for\u00a0Inheritance Baltimore: Humanities and Arts Education for Black Liberation, Plaster develops community-based oral history projects focused on trans of color experience. Additionally, he was awarded the American Historical Association\u2019s Allan B\u00e9rub\u00e9 Prize for\u00a0 Polk Street: Lives in Transition<\/a>, a project that drew on more than seventy original oral histories to intervene in debates about gentrification, homelessness, queer politics, and public safety in the highly polarized setting of gentrifying San Francisco.<\/p>"],"ecpt_email":["jplaster@jhu.edu"],"ecpt_teaching":["

Courses Taught:<\/p>\r\n

\r\n
Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University, program in Museums and Society, \"Public Humanities and Social Justice,\" Fall 2023.<\/li>\r\n
Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University, Program for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, \"Queer Performativity,\" Spring 2023.<\/li>\r\n
Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University, \"Queer Oral History,\" Spring 2022.<\/li>\r\n
Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University, \"Queer Sixties,\" Spring 2021.<\/li>\r\n
Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University, \"Queer & Trans Public History,\" Spring 2020.<\/li>\r\n
Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University, \u201cSharing Knowledge: Participatory Archives, Collaborative Oral History, and Social Justice,\u201d Fall 2019.<\/li>\r\n
Lecturer, Yale University American Studies Department, \u201cInterdisciplinary Approaches to Oral History Narrative,\u201d Fall 2016.<\/li>\r\n
Lecturer, Yale University American Studies Department, \u201cPublic Humanities and Social Justice,\u201d Spring 2017.<\/li>\r\n
Lecturer, Yale University American Studies Department, \u201cQueer\/Trans Performativity,\u201d Spring 2017.<\/li>\r\n
Teaching Fellow, \u201cRace, Class, and Gender in American Cities,\u201d Yale University, Fall 2017.<\/li>\r\n
Teaching Fellow, \u201cU.S. Lesbian and Gay History,\u201d Yale University, Fall 2013.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>"],"ecpt_publications":["
Books<\/h3>\r\n
\r\n
Kids on the Street: Queer Kinship and Religion in San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin<\/em>, February 2023, Duke University Press<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
Articles and Book Chapters<\/h3>\r\n
\r\n
\u201c\u2018Homosexuals in Adolescent Rebellion:\u2019 Central City Uprisings during the Long Sixties,\u201d GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies<\/em>, April 2023.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cRace, Sexuality, and U.S. Culture Wars,\u201d Public History Weekly<\/em>, Open Peer Review, November 2022.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cThe Category Is: Opulence! Performing Black Queer History in Baltimore\u2019s \u2018Cathedral of Books,\u2019\u201d Kalfou: A Journal of Comparative and Relational Ethnic Studies<\/em>, November 2020.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cSafe for Whom? And Whose Families? Narrative, Gentrification, and Queer Oral Histories of San Francisco\u2019s Polk Street,\u201d forthcoming in The Public Historian<\/em>, August 2020.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cBlack Queer Performance in Baltimore\u2019s \u2018Cathedral of Books,\u2019\u201d The Abusable Past, digital venue for the Radical History Review<\/em>, October 2019.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cThe Peabody Ballroom Experience,\u201d International Work, USA, Oral History<\/em>, Autumn 2019.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cImagined Conversations and Activist Lineages: Public Histories of Queer Homeless Youth Organizing in San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin,\u201d Radical History Review<\/em> Issue 113, May 2012.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cLGBT Pride Parade: A History,\u201d commissioned by the University of California's Calisphere Project, published online, 2011.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cPolk Street: Lives in Transition,\u201d commissioned by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York\u2019s OutHistory Project, published online, April 2009.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cThe Rise and Fall of a Polk Street Hustler,\u201d San Francisco Bay Guardian <\/em>cover story, March 18, 2009.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cBehind the Masks: GLBT Life at Oberlin College,\u201d thesis-length historical narrative written under the direction of Prof. Carol Lasser, 2001, revised 2007.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cImporting Injustice: Deregulation and the Port of Oakland\u2019s Neighbors,\u201d San Francisco Bay Guardian<\/em> cover story, July 18, 2007.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cThe Ruckus Society at a Crossroads,\u201d Z Magazine<\/em>, Feb 12, 2004.<\/li>\r\n
Editor, Undisclosed Recipients<\/em>, student publication addressing intersections of race, class, and gender within queer communities, Oberlin College, Feb-May 1999.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>"],"ecpt_extra_tab_title":["Public Humanities"],"ecpt_extra_tab":["Public Humanities Projects<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nDirector, The Peabody Ballroom Experience<\/a>, Oct 2018-present<\/p>\r\n
Launched collaboration between Johns Hopkins University and Baltimore\u2019s ballroom community, a performance-based culture comprising gay, lesbian, trans, and gender non-conforming people of color. Components include film screenings, panel discussions, dance workshops, oral histories, a documentary film, and a culminating ball competition.<\/p>\r\n
Essays and Media Coverage:<\/p>\r\n
\r\n
Ten-minute film<\/a> produced by the Hopkins Film & Media Studies MA program.<\/li>\r\n
Joseph Plaster, \"Black Queer Performance in Baltimore's \u2018Cathedral of Books,\u2019\" The Abusable Past, digital venue for the Radical History Review<\/em>, Oct 2019.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cBallroom Blitz<\/a>,\u201d Johns Hopkins HUB, Oct. 15, 2019.<\/li>\r\n
\u201c No Glitter Allowed: Ballroom 101<\/a>,\u201d Bmore Art<\/em>, Apr. 18, 2019.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nDirector, San Francisco ACT UP Oral History Project<\/em><\/a>, July 2017-July 2018<\/strong><\/p>\r\n
Designed project chronicling San Francisco\u2019s AIDS direct action movement. Outcomes include oral histories with more 40 ACT UP veterans; exhibition at the GLBT History Museum; multimedia Internet presence.<\/p>\r\n
Media Coverage: \u201cSaving the Stories of San Francisco\u2019s ACT UP Heroes<\/a>,\u201d The Advocate<\/em>, Aug 18, 2017.<\/p>\r\n
Director, Vanguard Revisited<\/em>, Jan. 2010-June 2011.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n
Designed project through which San Francisco\u2019s homeless LGBTQ youth documented and interpreted the legacy of 1960s street youth organizing. Outcomes included youth-produced historical zine; walking tours; street theater reenactments; intergenerational discussions; national speaking tour of homeless youth shelters and faith communities.<\/p>\r\n
Essays and Media Coverage:<\/p>\r\n
\r\nJoseph Plaster, \u201c Imagined Conversations and Activist Lineages: Public Histories of Queer Homeless Youth Organizing in San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin<\/a>,\u201d Radical History Review<\/em> Issue 113, May 2012.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cMaking History: \u2018Vanguard Revisited\u2019 Has a Conversation With the Past,\u201d Inside Stories<\/em>, Mar. 20, 2011.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cPolitical Notebook: Queer Youth Revive 1960s Magazine,\u201d San Francisco<\/em> Bay Area Reporter<\/em>, Feb. 3, 2011.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
Director, Polk Street: Lives in Transition<\/em>, Oct. 2007-Dec. 2009.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n
Interpreted more than seventy oral histories and archival research in relation to gentrification and conflict on San Francisco\u2019s Polk Street. Outcomes included historical narrative commissioned by the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at CUNY; multimedia exhibit; professionally mediated neighborhood dialogues; oral history \u201clistening parties\u201d and other public events; hour-long radio documentary distributed nationally via NPR.<\/p>\r\n
Media Coverage:<\/p>\r\n
\r\n\u201c Oral Histories Tell Polk Street\u2019s Story<\/a>,\u201d San Francisco Chronicle<\/em>, Aug 8, 2009.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cProfile in Ministry: Expanding the Definition of an LGBT Advocate,\u201d Human Rights Campaign Newsletter<\/em>, March 4, 2009.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cPolk Street Profiles,\u201d KALW\u2019s Crosscurrents<\/em> radio program, Jun 24, 2009.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cThe Changing Face of Polk Street, Pictured,\u201d San Francisco Bay Guardian<\/em>, Dec. 30, 2008.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
Director, Oberlin College LGBT Oral History Project<\/em>, July 2005-Jun. 2007.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n
Interpreted more than seventy oral histories through thesis-length paper and permanent, multimedia archive. Website maintained by the college and used as a teaching resource in Oberlin classrooms.<\/p>\r\n
Media Coverage: \u201cOut of the Past: Oberlin Graduate Joey Plaster takes Steps to Record and Preserve Oberlin\u2019s LGBT History<\/a>,\u201d Oberlin Alumni Magazine<\/em>, Winter 2008.<\/p>\r\n
Radio Documentary and Oral History:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n
\r\n\u201c Polk Street Stories<\/a>,\u201d hour-long oral history piece distributed nationally via NPR\u2019s HearingVoices, Jun. 21, 2010. Adapted for the stage and produced by Georgetown University\u2019s Mask and Bauble Dramatic Society in 2013.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cRe-Interviewing the San Francisco Street Patrol,\u201d audio piece commissioned by \u201cOUT\/LOOK & The Birth of The Queer: Today\u2019s Artists and Writers Respond,\u201d University of California Santa Cruz Arts Research Institute, Fall 2017.<\/li>\r\n
Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn School of Inquiry Project, Jan. 2012-present. For three successive years, recorded \u201clife histories\u201d from roughly three hundred precocious six-year-olds.<\/li>\r\n
LGBT Family Histories Project, Yale Research Initiative on the History of Sexualities, Summer 2012. Conducted oral histories with leaders of the GLBT families movement in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cGrowing Home Community Garden,\u201d Project Homeless Connect, San Francisco, 2011. Commissioned to create audio portraits of six homeless participants.<\/li>\r\n
\u201c Polk Gulch: the Story of Corey Longseeker<\/a>,\u201d radio documentary distributed via KALW\u2019s Crosscurrents<\/em>, Oct. 1, 2009.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
Exhibit Curation: <\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
\r\nCurator, Reigning Queens: Roz Joseph\u2019s Lost Photos<\/em>, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society Museum, San Francisco, Oct. 2015-Feb 2016.\r\n\r\n
\u201c A \u2018Golden\u2019 Photographic Treasury of 1970s Gay Scene<\/a>,\u201d San Francisco Chronicle<\/em>, Jan. 21, 2016.<\/li>\r\n
\u201cSee Roz Joseph\u2019s Lost Photos of the Early San Francisco Drag Scene<\/a>,\u201d New York Magazine\u2019s The Cut<\/em>, Oct. 27, 2015.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n
Co-curator, Our Vast Queer Past: Celebrating GLBT History<\/em>, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society Museum, San Francisco, Aug. 2010.<\/li>\r\n
Co-curator, Polk Street: Lives in Transition<\/em>, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society main gallery, San Francisco, Jan. 2009-Aug. 2009.<\/li>\r\n
Co-curator, Passionate Struggle: Dynamics of San Francisco's GLBT History<\/em>, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society Museum, San Francisco, 2008.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>"],"ecpt_cv":[""],"ecpt_website":["https:\/\/www.josephplaster.com\/"],"_ecpt_cv":["field_61e0871dac8e2"],"cv_file":["2873"],"_cv_file":["field_61e088d12999e"],"ecpt_job_abstract":[""],"_ecpt_job_abstract":["field_61e0873bac8e3"],"abstract_link":[""],"_abstract_link":["field_61e088f52999f"],"abstract_file":[""],"_abstract_file":["field_61e088f52999f"],"ecpt_books_cond":["on"]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/museums-society\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/people\/2000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/museums-society\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/people"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/museums-society\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/people"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/museums-society\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/people\/2000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2874,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/museums-society\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/people\/2000\/revisions\/2874"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/museums-society\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/museums-society\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"role","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/museums-society\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/role?post=2000"},{"taxonomy":"filter","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/museums-society\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/filter?post=2000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}