The Transgender Oral History Project has released the first batch of videos and transcripts. The Project is part of the Tretter Collection at the University of Minnesota, one of the nation’s largest collections of LGBTQ history. The Project is being spearheaded by Andrea Jenkins, a poet and activist. More than 100 stories have been collected, and 13 of those are available for viewing at the Project website.

The Project hopes to collect the stories of between 200 and 300 people over the next three years, and record up to 400 hours of oral history.

In a recent interview with the Pioneer Press, Jenkins reflected on the experience of leading the project.

“When I talk about it, people get excited. Nothing like this is happening really on a broad scale anywhere else in the country,” she told the paper. “All of the stories are deeply poignant, moving, beautiful. The resiliency is one of the key themes that I keep seeing.”

To get connected to the Transgender Oral History Project, follow the project on Facebook.