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The Trans Memory Archive Argentina is an organization dedicated to reconstructing, highlighting, and preserving Trans Argentinian history through restoration, archivism, the collection of testimonies, and promulgation of their materials. As a young non-binary Argentinian, I’ve closely followed the Archive’s work since 2019, when I first started educating others on Argentinian Queer activism and history. This is why interning at their organization during the summer of 2022, after finishing my freshman year at SLU, was a great opportunity to consolidate many of the things I had learned these past years, and to help me decide which path to follow as my career develops.
As an intern, I worked with hours of interview materials spanning over four years, transcribing stories and history from the mouths of iconic Trans and Transvestite seniors into over a hundred pages of text for the Archive’s upcoming book; and I updated their website with dozens of entries on relevant news, events and “WikiTrans” blog posts. Although initially I only expected to learn professional skills, what I take with me from this experience is worth so much more than that. Working closely with the Archive’s organizers and conservation area, I learned valuable skills and procedures that will be relevant as I move on to work in the Anthropological field. I was also nurtured and refreshed by the perspectives on history and culture of the Trans and Transvestite seniors who work at the Archive, teachings I’m sure will complement my development in the Gender and Sexuality Studies field and on projects to come.