SURVIVING AND THRIVING: INTERPRETING QUEER HISTORY AND CULTURE IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS [THE HEARTLAND IS OFTEN SEEN AS THE ?NORM? IN THE POPULAR IMAGINATION - THE UNCONTESTED SITE OF MIDDLE AMERICA, WITH A MIDDLE-CLASS INCOME AND A WHITE HETERONORMATIVE FAMILY? NOT A PLACE WHERE QUEER PEOPLE LIVE AND THRIVE. WHILE THESE ASSUMPTIONS FLOOD POPULAR CULTURE, HUMANITIES RESEARCH HAS PROPELLED THAT NARRATIVE BY FOCUSING THEIR RESEARCH ON LARGE CITIES. THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO FILL IN THE NARRATIVE GAP AND ARGUE THAT QUEER PEOPLE CAN AND DO FLOURISH IN THE HEARTLAND BY UNCOVERING THE EXPERIENCE OF LIVING QUEER IN A SMALL MIDWEST CITY. USING HUMANITIES-BASED APPROACHES, THE PROJECT WILL ADD ORAL HISTORIES, OBJECTS, AND ARCHIVAL MATERIALS TO OUR LGBTQ+ RESOURCES, WHICH WILL ENABLE US TO DEVELOP AN INTERPRETIVE EXHIBIT PLAN AND CREATE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES THAT WILL FOCUS ON HOW A PLACE SHAPES QUEER IDENTITIES AND CHOICES? WHEN OR HOW TO COME OUT, ORGANIZE FOR CHANGE, LIVE AUTHENTICALLY, FOSTER COMMUNITY, AND DECIDE WHERE TO CALL HOME.]