Hi! Thank you for being here. My name is Natalie—I’m a historian and visual artist based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal.

I’m a recent Harvard graduate who has been putting my dual American Studies/Visual and Environmental Studies degree to use for the last six years as a freelance researcher, sensitivity reader, and ghostwriter for public intellectuals, cultural institutions, and Hollywood projects. 

In September 2025, I began my PhD in History at McGill University, where I specialize in visual culture and the history of radical movement organizing in the rural United States post-World War II. This work is funded by the Cundill Fellowship and Fonds de Recherche du Québec.

I’m fluent in a wide range of relevant critical frameworks and have years of experience teaching in museums, K-12 classrooms, and university seminars—i.e. practice breaking down complex concepts and histories for diverse layperson audiences.

I also maintain an active photography practice. Since graduating, the bulk of my artistic production has been in analog photography, and from 2022-2024, I operated a small-scale film lab in Granada, Spain. I’m currently fortunate to be a 2026-27 Scholar-in-Residence at Concordia University’s Center for Oral History and Digital Storytelling (COHDS).

From cyanotyping to good old 35mm, it’s one of my greatest joys to translate my travels (fifteen countries in the last two years!) and my community into something physical. 

I’d love to chat about any of the above! You can reach me at nataliejgale@gmail.com. 

Selected Work

We The Underground, 2026 - I am managing archival research and oral history preparation for celebrated queer historian Dr. Eric Cervini’s second book, which traces the evolution of leftist paramilitary activism in the 1970s.

Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw (CNA), 2026 - I am composing an archival inventory of materials in Québec’s Indian and Inuit Affairs Program pertaining to the history of beaver conservation on Nehirowisiw territory. This research will be used by the CNA in developing a culturally-specific K-12 history curriculum as well as in ongoing treaty negotiations with the provincial government.

The Burns Halperin Report, 2025 - I served as a Curatorial Research Fellow for the most recent edition of the landmark report assessing the representation of marginalized artists in museums and the international art market, funded by the Ford Foundation and the Mellon foundation.

Lempicka, 2024 - I provided a series of research briefs to serve as the basis for marketing materials for the Tony-nominated Broadway musical following the life of bisexual Art Deco icon Tamara de Lempicka.

The Deviant’s War, 2023 (forthcoming) - I compiled an exhaustive timeline of the life of Sylvia Rivera, incorporating existing scholarly accounts, oral histories, and archival materials as well as the private archives of her contemporaries. This timeline will be used in script development for the narrative film adaptation of The Deviant’s War, which was a 2021 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in History.

The Book of Queer, 2022 - I was a fact-checker, sensitivity reader, and historical researcher for a limited series on Discovery+ aimed at introducing youth to wide-ranging topics within queer history. The series recieved six Primetime Emmy nominations, one of which was for Best Nonfiction Writing Team.

Combahee’s Radical Call, 2021- I organized archival research to create an interactive timeline of Black feminist organizing and curatorial practice in the Boston area as a part of Boston Center for the Arts’ exhibition Combahee’s Radical Call: Black Feminisms (Re)Awaken Boston, working closely with co-curator Jen Mergel, Combahee River Collective co-founder Demita Frazier, and the Feminist Art Coalition.