The Living Archive Honors
Witness QHB’s mission to document, preserve, and share Boston’s LGBTQ+ history live and in action at this annual award ceremony and brunch!
Get your tickets for Saturday, September 26th, 2026!
QHB invites you to The Living Archive Honors — the next chapter of what was formerly the History Maker Awards, now expanded into a five-award celebration honoring the LGBTQ+ individuals and organizations who shape our region's past, present, and future.
At the Living Archive Honors, QHB presents five awards: The History Maker Award, The History Project Award, The Queer Commonwealth Award, The Lavender Rhino Award, and The Lavender Laureate Award.
Honorees will be announced soon... so stay tuned!
Event Details
▷ Crystal Ballroom, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, MA, 02144
▷ Saturday, September 26, 2026
▷ Doors at 11:00 AM | Brunch 11:00 AM–12:00 PM | Ceremony 12:00–1:30 PM | Mingling until 2:00 PM
▷ Attire: Daytime glamour is encouraged; but come as you are, baby!
While The Living Archive Honors is a fundraiser for QHB, it's also a community event — and cost shouldn't be a barrier to being there. If you're not able to afford a ticket, please email info@queerhistoryboston.org. If you're able to pay it forward, consider getting a supporter ticket to help make that possible for others. Thank you.
Introducing the five awards
The History Maker Award
The History Maker Award is Queer History Boston's highest honor, presented annually to a living legend whose life and work have left an indelible mark on LGBTQ+ history in Boston and New England. This lifetime achievement recognition celebrates someone whose contributions — whether through activism, community building, public service, or cultural leadership — have shaped the world that queer Bostonians inhabit today.
A History Maker is not simply someone who witnessed history; they are someone who made it.
The History Project Award
The History Project Award honors the essential, often unsung work of preserving and transmitting LGBTQ+ history for future generations. Presented in recognition of Queer History Boston's origins as The History Project, this award may recognize an archivist, historian, educator, or archives materials donor whose contributions — whether a groundbreaking research project, a lifetime of teaching, or a significant gift of records to QHB's collections — have ensured that queer stories survive and are shared.
History doesn't preserve itself; this award honors the people who make sure it gets done.
The Queer Commonwealth Award
The Queer Commonwealth Award honors an organization, venue, publication, or business that has served as a gathering place — literal or figurative — for the greater good of Boston's LGBTQ+ community. This award recognizes the institutions that have created meaningful space for our community to find one another: the bars and community centers that offered belonging, the publications that gave us a shared voice, the organizations that brought us together to organize, celebrate, grieve, and persist.
The commons are what we build when we show up for each other.
The Lavender Rhino Award
The Lavender Rhino Award is a community nominated award that honors a contemporary advocate whose tireless work advances LGBTQ+ rights, visibility, and justice in our community today. Named for the symbol of queer resistance that appeared on the streets of Boston in 1974, this award recognizes someone who is actively in the fight — organizing, agitating, representing, and refusing to be ignored.
The Lavender Rhino looks forward, celebrating the person who is writing the next chapter of our history right now.
The Lavender Laureate Award
The Lavender Laureate Award is a community nominated award presented to an artist whose creative work reflects, preserves, or advances LGBTQ+ culture and community in Boston. From visual artists and writers to performers, drag artists, and musicians, this award celebrates the full spectrum of queer creative expression — and recognizes that art is itself a form of historical record.
The Lavender Laureate's work bears witness to and captures the spirit of Boston’s LGBTQ+ community.
