Cruising the Archives: Pete Smith

In 1963, white supremacist terrorists bombed the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young black girls. Despite the FBI and local investigators identifying four key perpetrators, no one was charged. Until 1977, when Pete Smith, a trans man, worked with the FBI to testify against and convict his uncle, Robert Chambliss. In partnership with Invisible Histories, we are releasing this 1988 interview with Pete. This episode is a part of a series we’re calling Cruising the Archives. We’re featuring extended interviews with LGBTQ+ icons from our own archives, as well as from the collections of queer and lesbian archives throughout the country. Invisible Histories locates, collects, researches, and creates community-based, educational programming around LGBTQ history in the Deep South. Invisible Histories believes archiving is resistance to oppression and history leads to liberation.Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast!

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