This spring the DC History Center launched its first call for research fellows, with one focused on Black Washington and the other on LGBTQ+ DC (intersectional applications were welcomed). While the decision was a tough one thanks to the incredible slate of applications received, we are thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2022-2023 fellowships, Tim Kumfer and Kristy Li Puma. Welcome Tim and Kristy! Read on to learn more about their areas of focus.
Expanding on his research presented at the 2022 DC History Conference, Tim Kumfer’s focus for the Black Washington Research Fellowship examines the life and contributions of Josephine Butler (1920-1997). Widely remembered as one of the city’s most tireless activists and a driving force for DC statehood, Butler nonetheless receives scant attention within historical scholarship to date. Drawing on the records of the DC Statehood Party (MS 0816)–which Butler co-founded and chaired from the 1970s through the 1980s–this project will demonstrate how Butler linked the effort to fully enfranchise the District to the broader fight for racial, gender, and economic justice.
“It is an honor to receive this inaugural fellowship. I am excited to work alongside the DC History Center community to help preserve and expand public memory of the push for DC statehood, including the central role of Black women activists such as Josephine Butler within this ongoing quest.” Tim Kumfer, 2022-2023 Black Washington Research Fellow
Tim is a doctoral candidate in the Department of American Studies at the University of Maryland–College Park. His dissertation “Counter-Capital: Grassroots Struggles for Self-Determination and Equitable Development in Washington, DC” explores how community organizers in Washington, DC pursued racial and spatial justice from the 1960s through the 1980s. Training as an interdisciplinary scholar of cities and social movements, his work draws on the fields of African American studies, urban studies, and twentieth-century US history.
Previously, Tim was the executive director of The Potter’s House, a nonprofit cafe, bookstore, and community space in Adams Morgan. He is a resident of Columbia Heights and has served on the boards of O.N.E. DC (Organizing Neighborhood Equity) and Interfaith Power and Light DC.MD.NoVA.
Kristy Li Puma’s research focuses on the history, politics, and cultural practices of alternative communities of color in the DMV, specifically from the 1970s through the 2000s. This summer, Kristy will delve into the Rainbow History Project holdings (MS 0764) to examine the records and practices of underground queer groups, including Black and Latinx Washingtonians, immigrants, youth, elders, femme people, and artists. In particular, she looks forward to exploring the Gay Women’s Alternative (1981-1993), The Clubhouse (1971-1990), and the Friends Radio (1973-1982) collections, and to garner primary sources such as photographs, artwork, meeting sign-in sheets and minutes, event schedules, organizing logistics notes, and ephemera that illuminate answers to her broader research questions.
“I examine the material culture that queer communities use—DJ equipment, zines, personal snapshots, and party poster art for example—in order to help facilitate and organize their spaces, sustain interconnectivity, and cultivate a sense of belonging.” Kristy Li Puma, 2022-2023 LGBTQ+ DC Research Fellow
Most recently, Kristy’s research explores the subversive nature of maleta (suitcase) spaces through lenses of transnational migration, queer material culture, performance studies, and women of color feminisms, which she presented on with close collaborators at the 2022 DC History Conference. As a proud DC area local, she is also passionate about documenting movements for social justice through collaborative oral histories, photography, and new media tools, as well as co-creating community events that explore connection, care, and coming undone together.
Kristy is a doctoral student in the Department of American Studies at the University of Maryland–College Park, where she also earned a masters in the same department, and holds two graduate certificates in Digital Studies in the Arts and Humanities, and Museum Scholarship and Material Culture. Kristy is a cultural worker within Latinx, POC, and queer communities in DC. She is a longtime community educator supporting young people of color in developing and enacting their capacities for personal and collective liberation.
About the Fellowships
Thanks to generous donor support, the DC History Center will provide stipends, resources, dedicated workspace, and mentorship to foster new research to share with a public audience on Black Washington and LGBTQ+ DC. After initial summer research, in the Kiplinger Research Library, at other local repositories, and in individually owned collections throughout the District, Tim and Kristy will submit a project proposal for approval in Fall 2022. They will continue to engage with the DC History Center throughout the following academic year, culminating in a deliverable that might comprise of an article submitted to Washington History magazine, a presentation at the 2023 DC History Conference, or perhaps a Context for Today public program.
We look forward to following Tim’s and Kristy’s research and outreach throughout the year!