Collections by Michelle Brown WSG Chicago Legacy Project's Victor Salvo

Part One of our interview with Victor Salvo, cofounder and executive director of Chicago's Legacy Project.
THE LEGACY PROJECT was inspired the first time the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was shown at the National March on Washington for LGBT Civil Rights in 1987. Victor Salvo led a group of 5,000 Chicagoans to Washington DC to participate in the march and view the Quilt. The first "National Coming-Out Day" was also celebrated on October 11th of that year. Inspired by these vents, the idea of a Legacy Project to tell the stories of LGBTQ people began.
Chicago’s Legacy Project illuminates and affirms the lives of LGBTQ people to honor their experiences and accomplishments; to collect and preserve their contributions to world history and culture; to educate and inspire the public and young people, and to assure an inclusive and equitable future.

The Legacy Project would have been celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the plans for this year’s celebration and the project’s other activities including "The Legacy Walk" and "The Legacy Wall" have been changed.

 Victor will share what is ahead for the Legacy Project as it enters its second decade, how the Project has been impacted by the COVID -19 Pandemic and how individuals can visit and support the Legacy Project and Walk. He also shares the history of the Project, stories of many LGBTQ luminaries, and those who have been honored.