The Past Is Always Present

the past is always present logo

 

 COMING SOON! 


We're bringing to life powerful, untold stories that have been erased from our U.S. history education — to inspire, educate, and entertain!

 

MEETING THE MOMENT


History UnErased and Houses on the Moon Theater Company have teamed up for a unique educational theater project that is putting LGBTQ history center stage! The primary source-based original musical and accompanying case studies are an Open Educational Resource targeted for high school stage productions and US history classrooms.

 

With the support of dozens of distribution partners (listed below), we are circumventing the challenges of today and directly reaching over 2,000,000 people nationwide who will share these stories and ensure they are seen, heard, and remembered!

 

 

MEET THE TEAM


Jeffrey Solomon

Jeffrey Solomon

Playwright

Emily Joy Weiner

Emily Joy Weiner

Artistic Director

Raliegh Neal II

Raliegh Neal II

Composer

Robb Leigh Davis

Robb Leigh Davis

Artist & Educator

Kathleen Barker

Kathleen Barker

Program Director

 

Jocardo Ralston

Jocardo Ralston

Artist & Educator

 

Dinah Mack

Dinah Mack

Content Developer

J. Eric Fisher

J. Eric Fisher

Artist & Educator

Jayson Caluag

Jayson Caluag

Graphic Designer

Mor Erlich

Mor Erlich

Video & Animation

Cheyenne Foxtree

Cheyenne Foxtree

Indigenous Consultant

Danny Roberts

Danny Roberts

Project Manager

 


 

 

The Bosque School, Albuquerque, NM, Theater Students Workshopping the Script with Jeffrey Solomon, lead playwright, Emily Joy Weiner, Artistic Director, and Raliegh Neal, Music Composer. May 2025.The Bosque School, Albuquerque, NM, Theater Students Workshopping the Script with Jeffrey Solomon, lead playwright; Emily Joy Weiner, Artistic Director; and Raliegh Neal, Music Composer. May 2025.

 

CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE


Year One, October 2024 - September 2025: We are using digital primary sources from the Library of Congress and state and local archives to create and pilot the musical with students in Los Angeles, CA, Albuquerque, NM, and in NYC at the Hetrick-Martin Institute in collaboration with National Queer Theater.

Educational materials development includes case studies with video introductions, UnErasing LGBTQ History and Identities podcast episodes, historical background and context, primary source improv activities, analysis questions, classroom posters, and more.

 

 

Subsequent Years: The Past Is Always Present will continue its creative development process with high school students in states that are currently restricting students' access to LGBTQ-inclusive history. This process, which includes primary source improv, will expand the script to include bonus acts that highlight LGBTQ history from state and local archives in Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, and many more.

 

Students workshopping/piloting the script and musical score at the Hetrick-Martin Institute in June 2025

 

A student sent us an audio audition file, putting music to some of the lyrics included in the application form. She recorded this while on the subway. Have a listen!

 

Before the programming began, students were asked, "What do you think about when you think of LGBTQ history? What are you hoping to learn more about?" Below are a few of their responses:

 

"I am hungry to learn this history. I want to see and know for a fact that we existed back then, even if people deny it."Jade


"I think of Two Spirits in Indigenous communities and the way they are revered and normalized as an inspiration to our culture and experience today, especially having an ethnic connection to Indigenous Americans. I am so excited to learn more about the regular queer people in everyone’s history and how they can change the way we see the present time." — Parker


"I want to know how learning about LGBTQ history changes mindsets about the world." — Casandra


 

Case Studies

Each case study will be linked in the buttons below on its release date. 


Baron von Steuben

September 17th Release
Revolutionary War

 

Dr. Margaret Chung

September 20th Release
WWII

 

Gladys Bentley

September 23rd Release
Harlem Renaissance

 

Thomas(ine) Hall

September 26th Release
Colonial America

 

 

William Dorsey Swann

September 29th Release
Reconstruction Era

 

Educator Resource Guide

September 30th Release

The Musical


Script & Musical Score

September 30th Release
First Draft of the Script

The Past Is Always Present is a multi-year project and has been made possible in part by funding from the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program. Content created and featured in partnership with the TPS program does not indicate an endorsement by the Library of Congress.

Please let us know your congressional district for History UnErased's reporting to the Library of Congress. The anonymous form includes a link for you to look up your congressional district. SUBMIT FORM

 

 

COMMITTED DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS


Our committed distribution partners will be sharing The Past Is Always Present with educators and constituencies in their networks nationwide, and in turn, those recipients will then share The Past Is Always Present within their educational contexts — reaching nearly 2,500,000 lives and exponentially more lives indirectly! 

 

National Council for the Social Studies

William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum

New-York Historical Society

Out Youth Texas

Colorado LGBTQ History Project

Invisible Histories Project

International Schools

Scholarly Editing

Equality Pennsylvania

Maryland Center for History and Culture

Teach Plus

Tranz Central Coast

University of Texas Austin

American University

Waynesburg University

University of Massachusetts Lowell

Fordham University

Sonoma State University

Central Connecticut State University

Middlesex Community College

University of Michigan

Augusta University

University of Southern Maine

University of California Los Angeles

New York City Public Schools

Harvard Graduate School of Education

Astrea Foundation

Alliance for a Healthier Generation

Highline Heritage Museum

Stonewall Columbus

Kaleidoscope Youth Center Ohio

OutWords

Queer Humboldt

Humboldt Pride

New York Public Library

National Queer Theater

 

 

Join us in revamping the script of America's Story!

You can make a gift to help us expand this project to new regions of the country by clicking the donate button at the bottom of your screen. CONTACT US if your organization is interested in becoming a distribution partner or sponsor of 2026 or 2027 productions.

 

 

 

SERENDIPITY


After submitting our grant proposal to the Library of Congress for The Past Is Always Present project, Mor Erlich discovered the following primary source (from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture) when creating the intro video for our case study about James Baldwin. 

 

James Baldwin's handwritten notes on Sheraton Tacoma Hotel notepad [circa 1963]


Malcolm X's Question... to Be a Citizen of The nation? The world? The race?

A. to confront Religion / Race / Power

B. The question of Identity

C. Involving History

D. Identity of History being synonymous: being the Present

E. Attempting to make the Past / History