Assistant Executive Director

JOSH@FAULKNERMORGAN.ORG

Josh Porter is an art historian and curator based in Lexington, Kentucky. In 2023, Josh received his MFA in Curatorial Studies from the University of Kentucky. Born in Eastern Kentucky, Josh brings a unique perspective to the archive in viewing Kentucky’s LGBTQ history through the lens of art, particularly photography. His writing, design, and photography has appeared in Oxford American, Brooklyn Rail, Art In America, Queer Kentucky, UnderMain, and elsewhere.

Co-Founder and President

Raised in Eastern Kentucky, Jon was a James Still Fellow at the University of Kentucky where he received his doctorate in history in 2014. He often lectures on queer history and was a consultant for the Kentucky LGBT Heritage Initiative funded by the National Park Service. Coleman’s book, Anywhere, Together: A Queer History of Kentucky, is forthcoming from the University Press of Kentucky.

Co-Founder and Vice President

Bob is a Lexington native and an HIV/AIDS activist and artist. His work can be seen in galleries and museums throughout the country. He has worked on numerous projects, both artistic and political, in the LGBTQ community for over fifty years. Recently he coordinated the I'll Be Your Mirror exhibition at Transylvania University and The Henry Faulkner Symposium.

Secretary and Treasurer

Emily is a sixth-generation Kentuckian with deep family ties throughout the state. A child of the 1960s, Emily was at Woodstock to Johnny Angel Disco to Cafe LMNOP, and her firsthand experience of Lexington's LGBTQ community has been a vital asset to the archive since its formation. A longtime ally of the LGBTQ community, Emily supports numerous charities with her time and talent.

Board of Directors

Paul Michael Brown is an arts writer and curator based in Lexington, KY. He served as the Director for Institute 193 from 2017-2020 and is a recipient of the 2020 Arts Writer's Grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation and Creative Capital. His writing has appeared in Art Papers, Burnaway, Raw Vision, Gayletter, Momus, Art F City, Queer Appalachia, and elsewhere.

Board of Directors

Dr. Vanessa M. Holden is an associate professor of History and serves as director of African American and Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky (UKY). She is also the director of the Central Kentucky Slavery Initiative. She is a founding co-convener of the Queering Slavery Working Group and her research interests include histories of gender, sex, and sexuality.  Dr. Holden serves as a faculty adviser on several public history and digital humanities projects including Freedom on the Move and The Digital Access Project (DAP), a partnership with Fayette County that digitizes local historical records and makes them available for free to the public.

Board of Directors

Silas House is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels and music journalist. House is a Grammy finalist for writing, producing, and serving as creative director of the first country music video in history to feature a gay love story. He is the winner of the Duggins Prize, the largest award in the nation for an LGBTQ writer, the Southern Book Prize, two Nautilus Awards, and was invited to speak at the Library of Congress in their LGBTQ Reading Series. His writing on LGBTQ issues has been published in Time, The Atlantic, The Advocate, and many other leading publications.  He was born and raised in Southeastern Kentucky.

Board of Directors

Amanda “Mandy” Ralston is an Appalachian, queer, and neurodivergent entrepreneur with a passion for advocacy and innovation. She founded two autism support clinics in Kentucky and now leads NonBinary Solutions, creating software to support clinical outcomes. Amanda has dedicated her career to creating inclusive spaces and promoting mental health awareness. Her unique perspective and tireless efforts have made significant impacts in both the business world and the broader social landscape for autism and neurodiversity.

Board of Directors

Mr. Taylor has been involved in various roles in the ongoing struggle to establish social equality for LGBTQ+ in Kentucky starting in 1971. He has BA in Fine Arts, an MLS in Library and Information Science with an emphasis on rare books and historical ephemera and a MS in Social Work, all from the University of Kentucky. Collecting rare books and printed media has been a life-long pursuit for Mr. Taylor and he has donated a substantial number of historical documents to the UK Special Collections, the Nichols-Williams Archive and more recently to the Faulkner Morgan Archive. He is delighted to remain vitally involved in the preservation of documents that are relevant to the Kentucky gay community. “History is written by the winners and the existence of this archive proves that here, by God, we won one.”