The Northwest Lesbian and Gay History Museum Project (NWGLHMP or The History Project), founded in 1994, is an organization which preserves, researches, interprets and communicates the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the Pacific Northwest for the purposes of study, education and enjoyment.
Recognizing that the history of this vibrant community has been sparsely and inaccurately recorded, the History Project seeks to: collect oral histories; locate photographs, ephemera, objects and documents; and work with archives to insure the preservation of these materials; and create public programs such as exhibits, publications and presentations to communicate the collective experience we have uncovered.
- Retrieved from
Ruth Pettis on behalf of the NW Lesbian and Gay History Museum Project; 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2025. Box 15 donated by Mikala Woodward June 15, 2021. Boxes 16-18 donated September 14, 2022.
Access to portions of the collection is restricted. Access is available for some cassette tapes or flash drives. Restrictions are noted at the item level. Box 18 is restricted. Contact Special Collections for more information.
Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
Recorded interviews (on cassette tape and flash drive), with corresponding transcripts, release forms, and photographs, conducted between the mid-1990s and 2023 of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and heterosexual narrators. The interviews focus on the conditions the narrators experienced before the activist period, the early homophile movement in Seattle, the founding or early days of activist and service organizations, and ongoing activism since those times. They span political, religious, and social aspects of LGBT community building. Also includes newsletters, administrative documents, periodicals, flyers, clippings, Police Payoff Scandal documents, and ephemera related to Seattle LGBT organizations.
Arranged in 4 series:
Darlene Aanderud was born in 1936 in New Rockford, North Dakota. Aanderud is Scandinavian-American and has resided in the Puget Sound area since 1942.
In the interview, Aanderud discusses childhood in Everett, WA during World War II; parents' move to the Puget Sound area for wartime employment; nursing career with Washington State Department of Health and Social Services; awareness of sexual orientation; social life for lesbians in Seattle, 1950s and 1960s; gay venues during that period (The Madison tavern, "Madame Peabody's" after-hours club); organizing private social gatherings and holiday parties; use of rental facility in Kenmore for gay social events in the 1960s; presence of police and heterosexual voyeurs in gay venues; concerns over the effect of discovery on career and the need for discretion; rejection of lesbian butch-femme role-playing among career women; custom of dating among lesbians and gay men as social camouflage; extension of friendship network to Vancouver, B.C.; religious upbringing (Lutheran); family members' reactions to her and her sister's relationships; benefits of education, upbringing, and community on forming a resilient identity and a sense of personal independence.
Bob Allen was born in 1944 in Evanston, Illinois. Allen is Catholic and is employed as a draftsman, flight instructor, and artist. Allen has been a Seattle/Northwest resident since 1968. Lyle Rudensey was born in 1955 in Hackensack, New Jersey. Rudensey is Jewish and is employed in environmental education. Rudensey has been a Seattle/Northwest resident since 1980.
In the interview, Bob Allen discusses growing up in California; early feelings of being different; Catholic school education; decision to become a priest; life in a Catholic seminary; decision to leave the seminary; working for Metro, driving trolleys; meeting Lyle; interest in piloting airplanes. Lyle Rudensey discusses growing up in New Jersey; relationship with high school teacher; coming to terms with sexuality; working in daycare and AIDS research; wish to become a father; meeting Bob; co-parenting and raising a child with a lesbian mom. Both Allen and Rudensey discuss meeting and establishing a relationship; their marriage; raising a child; thoughts on aging.
Rev. Thomas Anastasi was born in 1947 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Rev. Anastasi is a Unitarian-Universalist minister and has resided in the Seattle area since August 1990.
In the interview, Rev. Anastasi discusses growing up in a Christian fundamentalist church and early interest in the ministry; spiritual crisis over sexual identity and withdrawal from the church; importance of personal relationships and Unitarian Universalist philosophy in his spiritual healing and return to the ministry; significance of the Shoreline UU congregation's choice of a gay man as pastor; "coming out" as a process for all people in discovering their potential and relationship with God.
Bronte Anderson was born in circa 1943 (assumed, born in wartime conditions) in Indonesia (Java). Anderson is Javanese-European. Anderson works as a hospice nurse and has resided in the Puget Sound area since 1998.
In the interview, Anderson discusses early childhood in Japanese civilian internment camps during World War II and treatment by Japanese guards; orphan-hood and foster family in Australia; childhood abuse; nursing studies; marriage and children; early experience with cancer; marital difficulties, abuse, and loss of children; homophobia in Australia; coming out in a women's group in Adelaide; recurrences of cancer; Dame Cicely Saunders (London); subject in human genome studies; Seattle Lesbian Cancer Project support group; midwifery training in Scotland and travels in Europe; midwifery and AIDS hospice nursing career in Britain and United States; first arrival in U.S. (Texas); reuniting with children; lesbian relationships; thoughts on individual identity, especially in the internment camp setting; "wholeness"; birth and death as transitions -- similarity between midwifery and hospice care; "ethical wills"; susceptibility to cancer; treatment of cancer survivors.
Larry Anderson was born in 1947, in Baltimore, Maryland. Anderson is Black American and works as a database manager. Anderson has been a Seattle/Northwest resident since 1977. Ken Sanchez was born in 1947, in Lewistown, Pennsylvania as a white American. Sanchez has resided in Seattle/the Northwest since 1977.
In the interview, Anderson discusses growing up poor (Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio); childhood sexuality; being on his own and on the streets in teen years (New York); exposure to rich white gay society and reflections on "being kept"; being Black and gay at the U.S. Naval Academy; college and teaching (1960s, Michigan State University); involvement in Black Panthers and radical politics; being out as a gay male in these settings; "People's Trucking Company" and attraction of Seattle as a setting for radical social change (1970s). In the same interview, Sanchez describes a white suburban upbringing; sublimation of gay feelings; coming of age during the Vietnam War; military service in the Air Force and displeasure with the war; coming to terms with sexual orientation in counterculture/radical political settings; gay political culture in Boston area, 1970s (Gay Male Liberation, Fag Rag). Both discuss meeting in Boston and moving to the Northwest; bonding with a friend's child, parenting, and subsequent heartbreak; involvement of children in their lives; involvement in Seattle-area gay groups: Gay Community Center; Sexual Minority Prisoners' Caucus; gay Cubanos from Mariel boatlift; reflections on careers and life paths.
David Baird was born in 1943, in Flint, Michigan. Baird is half Polish, half Scottish, and has resided in the Puget Sound area since 1969.
In the interview, Baird discusses childhood awareness of sexual orientation; family relationships; political and religious influences in 1950s and 1960s; career as a social worker and parole officer; gay activism in San Francisco in the late 1960s: Glide Memorial Church, National Sex and Drug Forum, Symposium on the Lifestyle of the Homosexual, Council on Religion and the Homosexual; ramifications of San Francisco gay activism on other U.S. cities; early gay organizations in Seattle: Dorian Society/Seattle Gay Alliance, Gay Community Center; importance of consciousness-raising; founding the Stonewall Human Growth Center -- a residential and outpatient treatment facility; working with gay ex-offender and recovering addict populations; tensions within the program; friendship with Harry Hay; friendship with Seattle P-I photographer Don Wallen; establishing a garden design business and horticultural nursery in Tumwater; observations on U.S. political and spiritual thought in the early 2000s.
Doug Barnes was born on June 30, 1953, in Portland, Oregon. Barnes is white and is a business manager and a political organizer. Barnes has resided in the Puget Sound area since circa 1974.
In the interview, Barnes discusses gay students at Evergreen College (Olympia); the Freedom Socialist Party, its origins and inclusion of gay rights support; Initiative 13 campaign: Women Against Thirteen, and connections between gay activism and labor organizing; attempts to create coalitions with other communities and issues (Initiatives 15 and 350 in 1978); long-term effects of I-13 coalition work; commercialization of gay culture; AIDS politics and the Steven Farmer case; trips to Cuba in 1990s and observations on the Cuban response to AIDS.
Paul Barwick was born in 1946 in Shelton, Washington. Barwick is white and is employed as a carpenter/electrician, video worker, formerly as a State Police dispatcher and was a Puget Sound area resident until the late 1970s.
In the interview, Barwick discusses early awareness of sexual orientation, interest in police work; military service in Vietnam as an MP; learning to stand up against harassment; other gays in the army; feelings about war and U.S. treatment of Vietnamese; coming out when working for the State Police; meeting and joining gay liberation "radicals" circa 1970; influence of Vietnam service on his political views; Gay Liberation Front; Seattle's first Gay Community Center, activities and site description; reflections on interactions between "conservative" and "radical" gay activists; applying for a marriage license with Faygele ben Miriam; Seattle Police Chief George Tielsch; other encounters with police and court system; anti-establishment pranks and their role in calling attention to anti-gay practices.
Faygele ben Miriam was born in 1944 in New York, New York. Miriam is Jewish and employed as an office worker ("secretary") and activist and has resided in the Puget Sound area since 1971. Paul Barwick was born in 1946 in Shelton, Washington. Barwick is white and is employed as a carpenter/electrician, video worker, formerly as a State Police dispatcher and was a Puget Sound area resident until the late 1970s.
In the interview, Faygele ben Miriam discusses gay liberation organizations in New York, 1969 on (Homosexuals Intransigent!, Gay Activists Alliance); gay political organizations in Seattle, early 1970s (Dorian Society, Gay Community Center); producing RFD magazine as a resource for rural gays; Elwha Land Project, a gay rural space near Port Angeles (1970s); first Gay Community Center in Seattle; re-issuing of Lavender Country (record and CD); "radical fairies"; police harassment. Paul Barwick discusses protests against Seattle Police Chief George Tielsch and other political pranks.
Rev. Thomas Bigelow was born in 1933 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Rev. Bigelow is an Episcopalian priest and was a Seattle resident from 1968-'70, then since the mid-90s.
In the interview, Rev. Thomas Bigelow discusses religious upbringing and call to ministry in the Episcopal Church; being stationed with U.S. Air Force in England in 1950s; coming to terms with sexual orientation, late 1950s; situation for gay men in the military and the seminary; interim seeking community in Hollywood, c. 1959, and with family business in Puerto Rico; return to Episcopal priesthood and serving in the Southwest; first relationship, with another priest in New Mexico, 1960s; pressures acting against that relationship; involvement with Metropolitan Community Church in England and Tennessee and Florida; ministering to people with AIDS; rejoining Episcopal Church and ministry in Renton; coming out to the congregation there; interpreting scripture; status of gays in Episcopal Church as of 2004.
David Biviano was born in 1941, in Cortland, New York. Biviano is Italian-American and has been a Washington state resident since 1975, living in Spokane, Seattle, and Centralia. Biviano's occupation includes religious education, youth counseling, and diversity training.
In the interview, Biviano discusses growing up in an Italian-American family; Roman Catholic upbringing, and early interest in priesthood; childhood internal conflicts over sexuality; career in youth work and Catholic lay service in New York State and Spokane; marriage and family; repression of homosexuality; experiences coming out as a gay man; attempts to maintain marriage; repercussions on family and career in juvenile counseling (1980s); divorce and custody issues; employment discrimination and legal issues for gays (Spokane court system, 1980s); struggle to re-establish career and residence and find community; campaign in Spokane against Washington State Initiative 490 (1986); comparisons among Spokane, Seattle, Centralia, and Chehalis as environments for gay men; factors leading to activism; involvement with Spokane pride activities (1980s) and organizations: Dorian Group, Dignity (organization for gay Catholics), Hands Off Washington (1990s), March on Washington (for gay rights), Soulforce; work in diversity training and HIV/AIDS education; social environment for gay men in Lewis County (1990s); contemporary issues for gay youth.
Rosalyn Bohanan was born on July 1, 1940 in Indianapolis, Indiana, but has resided in the Seattle area since 1951. Bohanan is white, and is a retired dental technician.
Another narrator has commented on some of the material in this interview. See NWLGHMP interview with Mavis Jones, November 23, 2003.
In the interview, Bohanan discusses lesbian culture and street life in the 1950s and 1960s; terminology used; butch-femme roles; reflections on relationship between butch identity and transgender issues; Pioneer Square in that era; the Double Header, the Casino, the Madison, and other bars; drag shows; treatment of butch lesbians by the police; physical danger and violence against gays in the 1950s; views on young lesbians today.
Marsha Botzer was born in 1947 in Seattle, Washington. Botzer is white and is the Founder and Public Relations Director for Ingersoll Gender Center and has been a lifelong King County resident.
In the interview, Marsha Botzer discusses personal history as a transgender person; education, work, travel, and developing awareness of transgender identity from 1960s on; discussions with medical and psychiatric professionals, and founding Ingersoll Center; experience in counseling other transsexuals.
Charles Brydon was born on June 21, 1939 in Summit, New Jersey. Brydon is white and employed in an insurance business, governor's staff, community organizer, and formerly as co-director of the National Gay Task Force. Brydon has been a Seattle area resident since July, 1974.
In the interview, Charles Brydon discusses military education; the Dorian Group (gay activist organization, 1970s); Dorian Group origins, luncheon discussions with Seattle Police chief, Dixy Lee Ray, others; Society for Individual Rights (San Francisco); reminiscences of various figures in Seattle municipal politics, 1970s; Initiative 13 campaign (1978) and Citizens to Retain Fair Employment (CRFE); tensions among different local gay activist groups then; National Gay Task Force; beginnings of Northwest AIDS Foundation; local and statewide AIDS response organizing and importance of localizing community response; Hands Off Washington; other groups' responses (Bigot Busters and "Decline to Sign"); involvement with Gary Locke's campaigns and administration; issues surrounding domestic partnership benefits.
Helen Burrell was born in 1907 in San Francisco, California. Burrell was Italian-American and employed as a cook. Burrell was a Seattle area resident from 1926 until passing on July 21, 2002.
In the interview, Helen Burrell discusses the story of her parents' immigration to the U.S. from Italy; growing up in San Francisco; marriage and move to Seattle (1926); move to West Seattle when it was still primarily forest (1940s?); the difficulty of coping with husband's Alzheimer's condition; the help offered by her gay neighbors; positive views regarding gay people in general; establishing family-like friendships with neighbors in times of need; celebrating holidays together.
Elaine Burnell was born in 1944 and has been a resident of the Seattle area since approximately 1965. Burnell operates an adult family home for developmentally disabled adults.
In the interview, Burnell discusses lesbians in juvenile lockup in Los Angeles; butch/femme roles in lesbian culture (in the 1960s and 1970s); Seattle bars popular with lesbians; lesbian relationships; effects of alcohol, drugs, and domestic violence on lesbian relationships and raising children; Tamarack (a private lesbian social organization); being out at work and with case workers; local reactions to Stonewall; relationships with family members; being raised in a foster family, finding and reuniting with birth family as an adult; changes in social conditions for lesbians.
Robert "Bob" Carter was born in 1929 in Seattle, Washington. Carter is African-American and is retired. Carter was formerly a dancer, salesman, chef, housing inspector, Democratic Party campaign worker, and was the first manager of the Lambert House. Carter is a lifelong resident of Seattle, except for occasional residences in California; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Alaska. In this interview, Carter describes experiences with discrimination; contrasting prejudice against African-Americans with prejudice against gays; perceptions of sexual orientation in African-American culture; family's attitudes; religious views; involvement with Lambert House (resource center for gay youth); reflections on the Million Man March and racial issues; issues in the gay community and with Seattle Gay News.
See also follow-up interview, dated April 17, 2002. Not to be used to advance any political agenda without narrator's consent.
Geraldine Cole was born in approximately 1954 in La Joya, California. Cole is white and was a Seattle area resident from approximately 1960-'67 then since 1973.
In the interview, Geraldine Cole discusses growing up as the daughter of a working single mother; attending middle school and high school in New York City at a time of racial changes, student activism, and sexual experimentation; beginnings of radical political activism in late 1960s; experience of being a single mother; counterculture life in Seattle, early 1970s, and living with the Love Family; coming out as a lesbian in the context of radical lesbian-feminist community in Seattle; starting the Lesbian Mothers National Defense Fund; issues for lesbian mothers in the 1970s; working for Seattle City Light as assistant power analyst, and for King County as assistant manager in solid waste removal; involvement with the Pride Foundation and origins of the Cole Family Scholarship; reflections on daughter's experience as child of a lesbian mother; reflections on the role of community organizations.
Boe Creech was born on July 12, 1947 in Morton, Washington. Creech is white, and has been a lifelong Puget Sound area resident. Creech is a "jack of all trades" -- a factory and service industry worker, but is on disability due to physical abuse and/or work environment at the time of the interview.
In the interview, Creech describes growing up in Port Orchard, WA; family's involvement in The Order, a right-wing organization; undergoing electroshock therapy in teen years (1960s); identifying as a bisexual cross-dressing male; early sexual experiences and abuse; anti-gay prejudice in schools, discrimination; appeal of cross-dressing while presenting as an obvious male; cops' and others' reactions to him as a cross-dresser; coming out in 1973, gay venues in Seattle at that time and their atmosphere (Golden Horseshoe, Columbus tavern, Double Heater, bath houses); prejudice against clean-and-sober people in bars; spiritual exploration and involvement with the Silver Fox Coven (WICCAN); memories of early Seattle pride celebrations; local tales he heard about activism against Seattle Police Chief George Tielsch; resources: Gay Community Center and Ingersoll Gender Center.
Armand Dalmage was born in 1948 in Tacoma, Washington. Dalmage is white and is employed as a hotel auditor. Dalmage is a lifelong Puget Sound area resident. Chrisoff Durant was born in 1963 in Whittier, California. Durant is white and employed as a waiter and has been a Puget Sound area resident since 1995.
In the interview, Armand Dalmage discusses early awareness of sexuality; living conditions and harassment in juvenile institutions in Washington (Ford Worden, Green Hill), early 1960s; relationships with older gays; 1960s social network of gay men and lesbians in Kent Valley and origins of Tamarack (social organization); Seattle gay bars (Dolls' House, 614, and others) during Tielsch era (police chief). Christoff Durant discusses teenage years in Oslo, Norway; contrasts with gay life there and in the States; responding to anti-gay violence in the Bay Area. Both Dalmage and Durant discuss reflections on intergenerational relationships.
David Davenport was born in 1950 in Phoenix, Arizona. Davenport is white and works as an artist and gallery manager. John Wilkinson is white and was born in 1948 in Seattle, Washington. Wilkinson is a field engineer for Kodak.
In the interview, Davenport discusses growing up in rural Oregon; early realization of sexual orientation in 1960s; finding gay life in Portland counterculture context, late 1960s; becoming a Conscientious Objector to Vietnam war; career as a painter and art gallery manager; involvement in gay sports clubs; involvement with Greater Seattle Business Association. Wilkinson discusses growing up in Seattle; becoming aware of sexuality in the 1960s; student and fraternity life at the University of Washington in the 1960s; move to Portland, circa 1969; involvement with KCTS-TV, KRAB radio (Seattle), KBOO (Portland), Willamette Bridge (Portland), and friendship with Lorenzo Milam; political activity in Portland during early days of gay liberation; involvement with Stop AIDS Project (San Francisco); Mayor's Commission on Sexual Minorities (Seattle) and working for domestic partnership benefits (circa 1990). In the interview, both talk about meeting and establishing a relationship; comparisons of gay life in Portland (1970s) and San Francisco (1980s); living in the Castro district during the AIDS epidemic; family relationships; founding of the Legal Marriage Alliance in Seattle (1995); gay marriage and other issues in 1990s; thoughts on maintaining long-term relationships.
Jerry DeGrieck was born in 1950 in Detroit, Michigan. DeGrieck is white and employed at Seattle public schools personnel and employment training and the Seattle Office for Education. DeGrieck has been a Seattle area resident since 1974.
For use restrictions, contact UW Special Collections.
In the interview, Jerry DeGrieck discusses family background and political views; awareness of sexual orientation in early teens; political activism in college (University of Michigan, late 1960s); getting elected to Ann Arbor city council, 1972; dealing w. sexuality and radical gay politics, 1970s; coming out while on city council; attraction of Seattle to Ann Arbor activists; Seattle gay community and politics in 1970s; Initiative 13, and Seattle Committee Against Thirteen; becoming a parent, raising children, and reflections on the experience of parenthood.
Robert Deisher was born in 1920 in Bradford, Illinois. Deisher is white and is employed as a pediatrician and a founder of Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities and has been a Puget Sound area resident since 1949. Harold Johnson was born in 1934 in Chesterfield, Tennessee. Johnson is white and employed as a psychiatrist and has been a Puget Sound area resident since 1963. Faygele ben Miriam was born in 1944 in New York, New York. Miriam is Jewish and employed as an office worker ("secretary") and activist and has been a Puget Sound area resident since 1971.
Portions have been redacted and are not to be released until Jan. 1, 2035.
In the interview, Robert Deisher, Harold Johnson, and Faygele ben Miriam discuss Bob's work with street kids; acquaintanceship with residential hotel owners Abie and Ruby Label; founding Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities, 1969; others involved in the Counseling Service; Harold's involvement with Dorian Society; Faygele's involvement with Gay Community Center and other activist groups; how these different groups interacted; the "Sandy and Madelaine" custody case; acting as expert witness in that case.
Jan Denali was born in 1949 in Denver, Colorado. Denali is white, and works in carpentry, UW program coordination, tax preparation; small business consulting, and is a musician. Denali has been a permanent Seattle area resident since 1973, but has lived in Seattle since 1968.
See also first NWLGHMP interview with Jan Denali, dated May 4, 1998.
In the interview, Denali discusses participation in local old-timey and Balkan music communities, and childhood training on the violin; Mormon family background in Salt Lake City and reasons for leaving it; being caregiver for parents in later years, and for younger siblings while growing up; 1970s counterculture in Seattle and its gender roles - Morningtown Pizza; group living in a rural setting and exploring primal therapy, discipline of silence, physical fitness; working with troubled teens for Vista; feminism and early Women's Studies at Portland State University in the early 1970s; first lesbian relationship; Coffee Coven and C.C. Grains; WAT (Women Against Thirteen) theater group; foster parenting and inclination toward caregiving; more detail about Referendum 7 activism (1986) and the infamous "special rights for child molesters" petition flap; advocating for gender- and disability-inclusive language at the 1987 Rainbow Coalition convention in Raleigh, North Carolina.
See also NWLGHMP's follow-up interview with Jan Denali, dated May 17, 2017.
Mary Dougherty was born in 1929 in Tacoma, Washington. Dougherty is white and is employed as a social worker and is a lifelong resident of the Puget Sound area.
In the interview, Mary Dougherty discusses the role of Christian churches in overcoming homophobia; developing programs for churches to use to become "reconciling," "open and affirming" congregations; influencing United Church of Christ policy at the national level; the Gay and Lesbian Caucus of the University Congregational Church (Seattle); United Church Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Concerns; Capitol Hill United Methodist Church and Metropolitan Community Church (Seattle); helping clergy and lay people work through personal issues around homophobia.
Eris Dreykus was born in 1925 in the vicinity of Davenport, Iowa, and is white. Dreykus's exact location of birth and ethnic origin is unknown, as Dreykus is adopted. Dreykus has been a Seattle area resident since around the early 1980s.
In the interview, Dreykus describes early awareness of feeling different; friendship with comedienne Pat Bond; discovering gay life, the arts, jazz and poetry circles, "bohemian", and 'Beat' communities in New York (Greenwich Village) and San Francisco (North Beach), late 1940s to the early 1950s; American Academy of Dramatic Art and New School of Social Research (New York); friendships with jazz musicians and poets; encounters with Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Allen Ginsberg; heterosexual relationship and children; career as social worker; living in Austria, Ireland, and Scotland; involvement with psychoanalysis, meditation, and Tibetan Buddhism; Samye Ling center (Edinburgh); Sakya Center in Seattle; becoming a Buddhist nun; Buddhist principles; giving back her vows; Lesbian Resource Center (Seattle) "Over 50s" group; re-establishing lesbian identity later in life.
Bear Dyson was born in 1945 in Millersburg, Ohio. Dyson is white, and has been a Seattle resident since approximately 1973.
In the interview, Dyson discusses growing up in southern California; 1960s gang life, drug culture, teenage sexuality, and Hollywood-area party scene; factory jobs; introduction to lesbian-feminist community and activism; raising a son; disputes with lesbian-separatists; working at CC gains; sado-masochism; recovering from drug use; class issues in local lesbian community; observations on women's relationships with power and money; thoughts on aging, social change and revolution, art, and writing.
Ward Folsom was born in 1934 in Tacoma, Washington. Folsom is Caucasian and is employed as a teacher. Folsom has resided in Seattle since 1959. Leigh Champlin was born in 1933 in Los Angeles, California. Champlin is caucasian and is employed in retail (religious). Champlin has resided in Seattle since 1965.
In the interview, Ward Folsom and Leigh Champlin discuss how Leigh was a president of the Dorian Society, Seattle's first homophile organization, in the late 1960s; Ward Folsom was on the board of directors for the Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities in its early years; connections between Dorian Society and the Counseling Service; Dorian Society's fund-raising events, drag balls and dances; relationship of early gay organizations with gay bar owners of the time; relationships among early Seattle gay organizations; Rev. Mineo Katagiri and the Ecumenical Metropolitan Ministries; formation of a Metropolitan Community Church congregation in Seattle.
Sandra Fosshage was born in 1939 in Yakima, Washington. Fosshage is Scandinavian and has resided in the Seattle area since 1962 (with residences also in Germany and Los Angeles).
In the interview, Sandra Fosshage discusses growing up in Eastern Washington; early interests in theater and entertaining; early awareness of differences from other girls; career with Special Services in Germany providing recreation activities for U.S. troops; observations on differences in European and American culture in the 1960s; lesbians in the Special Services, military purges of gay people, and the need for discretion; Los Angeles lesbian communities in the early 1970s; working for the Boy Scouts of America in Los Angeles; career as a therapist for Seattle Counseling Services for Sexual Minorities and the Crisis Clinic; professional networking with Seattle Mental Health and King County Board of Mental Health around issues for GLBT clients; addressing controversial issues in mental health services for sexual minorities (domestic violence, sado-masochism, transgender issues); changes in the mental health and counseling fields.
Sandra Fosshage was born in 1939 in Yakima, Washington. Fosshage is white and employed as a therapist and formerly as the director of Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities. Fosshage has resided in the Puget Sound area since 1974. Marsha Botzer was born in 1947 in Seattle, Washington. Botzer is white and is employed as the founder and Public Relations Director of Ingersoll Gender Center. Botzer is a lifelong Puget Sound area resident. Janice Van Cleve was born in 1945 in Boulder, Colorado. Van Cleve is of German ancestry and is a writer, political activist and philanthropist. Van Cleve has resided in the Puget Sound area since 1967.
In the interview, Sandra Fosshage, Marsha Botzer, and Janice Van Cleve discuss Seattle Counseling Center for Sexual Minorities in the late 1970s through 1980s; changes in procedures; coming into compliance with county mental health facility standards; change from "counterculture" atmosphere to more "professional" atmosphere; changes in populations SCS served in that time period. Janice Van Cleve discusses the founding of Emerald City Social Club, for transvestites and transsexuals, and their annual ordinances;support groups for transgender people at SCS.
Pat Freeman was born on January 11, 1933 in Seattle, Washington. Freeman is white and a retired program manager at Boeing. Freeman is a lifelong Seattle area resident. In the interview, Pat Freeman discusses discrimination; workplace reactions to "outspoken" women; drawbacks of living a double life; coming out to relatives; the interconnected-ness of all forms of discrimination; how fear leads to scapegoating; the need to stand up for one's rights.
Louis Giguere was born in 1962 in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Giguere is white and has resided in the Seattle area since 1995.
In the interview, Louis Giguere discusses early awareness of gayness; family background and Southern Baptist upbringing; discovery of male-male sexual opportunities in mid-teens; the body language of cruising; discovery of gay community in California (1970s); relationship with former Dorian Society member Peter Wichern; dynamics of gay male relationship with 16-year age difference; stories about Peter's posing for 1967 Seattle [magazine] cover as an openly gay man and his gay activism in California after leaving Seattle; Peter's family background and personality as a high-achiever in school, hobbies, computer industry employment, and activist; Louis' education and career path, and influences of mentoring from Peter; dealing with HIV/AIDS; Peter's death from AIDS in 1996.
Martin Gouterman was born in 1931 in Philadelphia, and has been a Seattle resident since 1966. Gouterman is Jewish, and works in the University of Washington Chemistry department, and is part of the University of Washington faculty emeritus.
In the interview, Gouterman discusses the Dorian Society and its name; coming out; gay bars in Boston and New York in the early-mid 1960s; emotional costs for being closeted versus being out; analogy between being gay with a Jewish person who "passes"; contrasts in East Coast and Seattle gay environments; meeting and developing relationship with his son for whom he was an anonymous sperm donor; social climate for gays in the 60s, feeling "on guard" among straight colleagues.
Dawn Griffin was born in 1964 in Brooklyn, New York. Griffin is African-American and works as an administrative assistant at Microsoft. Greg Swales was born in 1963 in Seattle, Washington. Swales is a florist and has English and Irish ancestry.
In the interview, Griffin and Swales discuss drag organizations: International Imperial Court System, and United Ebony Council; drag "families", customs, and protocols; history of the International Court system; what drag means to participants; social and fundraising aspects; the changing role of women in drag organizations; African-Americans in Seattle drag clubs; drag organizations as gay "lodges".
Melvin Habel was born on January 3, 1934 in Everett, Washington. Habel is white and is retired, having worked as a teacher. Habel is a lifelong resident of the Puget Sound area. In the interview, Habel discusses "dishonorable" discharge from Navy in early 1950s for suspicion of being gay, and ultimately successful struggle to get discharge record changed; involvement in Civil Rights movement and later in gay organizations; teaching high school in Seattle and conditions for gay teachers.
Rev. Gwen Hall was born in 1951 in Chicago, Illinois. Rev. Hall resided in the Seattle area briefly in circa 1967 and has resided there permanently since the early 1970s. Rev. Hall is African-American and works as a pastor at Sojourner Truth Unity Fellowship. In the interview, Rev. Hall discusses early experience of racism; integration of Cicero, Illinois high school; contrast between Cicero and Seattle; coming out in a Chicago African-American lesbian community; influence of parents and friends; political activism; involvement in the church; becoming a pastor; ministry to sexual minority community.
Jann Harnish was born in 1951 in Seattle, Washington, and died in 2002. Jann Harnish was a lifelong resident of Washington and was part Native American, part white. Leslie Harnish was born in 1954 in Seattle, Washington. Leslie Harnish is part Native American, part white, and is a lifelong resident of Washington. Dorothy Rockwell was born in 1953 in Kirkland, Washington. Rockwell is white and a lifelong resident of the area. Beth Strayer was born in 1958 in Iowa. Strayer is white, and has been an area resident since 1962.
During the interview, they discuss women's fast-pitch softball in the 1960s and 1970s, recreational and semi-pro; the Northwest Women's Fast-Pitch League; importance of sports in the lives of girls; lesbians in local women's sports; parents' support and male fan reactions; memories of great plays, athletic abilities, and off-field mischief; camaraderie and teamwork; training, tournaments, travel, and lodging concerns; financial support; differences between fast- and slow-pitch softball; Seattle gay picnics and bars in the 1960s and 1970s; role of alcohol; contrasts in childhood and upbringing--one was from a traditional religious family, two were daughters of a lesbian; changes in the lesbian community from mother's generation to their own.
David Hecker was born in 1937 in Utica, Michigan. Hecker is white and has had a 35-year career at Foss Tug company, now a co-owner of Tugs Belltown Tavern. Hecker has resided in the Puget Sound area since approximately 1960.
In the interview, Hecker discusses being the co-owner of Tugs Belltown Tavern, c.1977-1987; move to Puget Sound area as a result of army service with Fort Lewis; gay bar culture and social life in Tacoma and Seattle, 1960s on; contrasts with Midwest and Northwest experience; Friends and Company (social group, 1970s); Dorian Group; Greater Seattle Business Association; Triangle Recreation Campground; working for Foss Tug company, longshoring and working aboard tugboats; running Tugs as a popular gay dancing and live music venue; partner Patric harrison's flair with decorative themes, art, and booking live acts (Divine, James Brown, others); other gay taverns and their owners; photos of patrons, costuming, and celebrations at Tugs.
Nicholas Heer was born in 1928 in Durham, North Carolina. Prof. Heer is Caucasian and works as a University of Washington Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization. Prof. Heer has been a Seattle area resident since 1965.
In the interview, Prof. Heer discusses being the first president of the Dorian Society, Seattle's earliest homophile organization; Jamma Phi (gay social organization); Seattle gay bars in the 1960s; tensions between Dorian Society and Gay Liberation Front; gay organizations prior to 1969 in various U.S. cities; drag events in the early 1970s; Committee of Five; studies on sexuality in Islamic countries; beginnings of Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities; conjectures on the nature of sexuality/bisexuality and identity; blue laws; gay rights movement in other countries.
Randy Henson was born in 1952 in Nevada, Missouri. Henson is white and has resided in Washington since 1956 and in the Seattle area since 1973.
In the interview, Randy Henson discusses growing up in eastern Washington; coming to terms with sexuality during student years at Central Washington University and University of Washington; GLBT political activism: community responses to Anita Bryant campaign, Lloyd Cooney's editorials on KIRO-TV, Initiative 13 (late 1970s); founding of SEAMEC (Seattle Municipal Elections Committee for Gays); founding the Tacky Tourists Clubs of America and its fundraising activities: Things That Go Bump in the Night; Queen City Cruises, The Prom You Never Went To; incorporating humor and fun activities into political activism and fundraising.
James L. Holm was born in 1951 in Volga, South Dakota. Holm is white and employed as a social worker and an administrator for King County Human Services. Holm has resided in the Puget Sound area since approximately 1954.
In the interview, James L. Holm discusses growing up in Kent, WA; effects on males on mother's use of DES in pregnancy; early career as social worker in King County Human Services agency; county agency politics and funding issues; programs such as Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and Washington State Health Insurance Pool (WaSHIP); involvement with and leadership of Dorian Group, 1980s; being spokesperson for gay community; lobbying for GL protections at county level; memories of football player David Kopay; working in Washington, D.C. with National AIDS Network and International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO); contrast in activist styles in D.C. and Seattle; differences and difficulties in international AIDS work; inspirations for altruism and importance of positive role models; dealing with crank calls and threats; encounters with anti-gay activist Paul Cameron; issues with aging: housing and memory.
Ken Hoole was born in 1935 in Glendive, Montana. Hoole is Unitarian and is a retired social worker and resided in Seattle from 1959 until 1971. Tim Sagen was born in 1942 in Rapid City, South Dakota. Sagen is Unitarian and a retired electrical engineer and resided in Seattle from 1966 until 1969.
In the interview, Ken Hoole and Tim Sagen discuss growing up in conservative locales, parental influences; youthful awareness of sexual orientation; sources of information. Experiences in Air Force and San Francisco, working at Bon Marche and for City of Seattle, and switch to social work (Ken). Working at Boeing and for the City of Fort Collins (Tim). Seeking community in Seattle gay bar culture of the 1960s; memories of Seattle gay venues then (Mocambo, Spag's Tavern). The Dorian Society in the late 1960s (Ken was its 2nd president); Rev. Mineo Katagiri; West Coast Homophile Organizations meeting of 1967; Dorian Society's outreach activities; Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities; establishing alternatives to bar culture for social life; beginning of political activism; differences in gay activists' political values; career pursuits; move to Colorado at beginning of 1970s; gay community life and political involvement in Fort Collins; Log Cabin Republicans; observations on political changes.
Tasceaie Jennings was born in 1946 in Los Angeles, California. Jennings is African-American and Native American (Cherokee) and is employed as a teacher and youth worker and has resided in the Seattle and Everett area since 1977.
In the interview, Tasceaie Jennings discusses experience as an African-American Catholic nun; coming to terms with identity as lesbian/bisexual; first relationship and its stresses; social environment at Antioch University (Seattle); exploring her Native American heritage and spirituality; being "Two-spirit" (a Native American concept of gayness); working with disadvantaged youths in Everett/Seattle areas; recurring themes of spirituality, identity, family, and community.
Jody was born in 1952 in Seattle. "Jody" is a pseudonym. Jody is Japanese-American and a lifelong resident of the Seattle area. Jody is a former carpenter and a computer systems manager.
In the interview, Jody discusses family ties in Japanese-American community; parents' stories about WWII internment and feelings about racism; concerns about racism in Northwest rural areas; coming to terms with sexual orientation; ways racial prejudice is expressed by white lesbians; finding other lesbians of color; starting Lesbians of Color Caucus and newsletter; trip to Japan in late 1970s and finding lesbian community there; insights into Japanese views of Japanese-Americans; working in the trades; treatment of people of color on work sites; experience and issues with state retraining programs for injured workers; importance of family ties (hers and her partner's).
Betty Johanna was born in 1946 in Ketchikan, Alaska. Johanna is Scandinavian and has resided in Seattle since 1952.
In the interview, Betty Johanna discusses activism in anti-war and pacifist movements in New York (Committee on New Alternatives in the Middle East, ca 1972), and Seattle (1970s): Catholic Worker Community; War Resisters League; Live Without Trident; Pacific Life Community; civil disobedience and activism against "Initiative 13" (1978, Seattle); "Blood on S.O.M.E." incident (Save Our Moral Ethics, a pro-Initiative 13 organization); development of political values in high school and college years (1960s), influence of religious upbringing (Lutheran); incorporating the ideals of non-violence and pacifism in lesbian and gay rights activism; friendship with writers/activists Jane Meyerding and Barbara Deming; winning a housing discrimination action under the Seattle protected-class ordinances; workplace issues for lesbians; being lesbian in the context of other progressive social movements; surviving cancer; Seattle Lesbian Cancer Project.
Marcy Johnsen was born in 1951 in Seattle, Washington. Johnsen is white and works as a nurse.
In the interview, Johnsen talks about growing up in West Seattle; circle of friends in high school centered on a charismatic young lesbian (late 1960s); reactions of school officials and family members; discovering Seattle gay bars and wider gay community during that period; career as a nurse; workplace issues for lesbians and gay men; role of Seattle City Light and its women employees in advancing non-traditional jobs for women; union activism and becoming a spokesperson for GLBT issues: Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1199 Northwest chapter, SEIU Lavender Caucus, Out Front Labor Coalition founding, Pride at Work; celebrating 25th anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion in New York; raising awareness about diversity, workplace discrimination, LGBT, and union issues.
Cherry Johnson was born in 1948 in Wakefield, Rhode Island. Johnson is of Irish and Swedish ancestry and has been a Puget Sound area resident since 1961.
In the interview, Cherry Johnson discusses growing up in Seattle as result of father's relocation with Boeing; upbringing and involvement in the American Baptist denomination; a calling toward service career since childhood; importance of same-sex friendships while growing up; realization of lesbianism in mid-twenties and coming out experiences; teaching career (public schools and University of Washington Women's Studies); managing a Baptist summer camp in the Cascade Mountains; involvement in gay and lesbian activism in Seattle in the 1970s: Dorian Group, Lesbian Resource Center (co-coordinator, late 1970s); public speaking in church and civic arenas and countering theological arguments against homosexuality; feminism and women's spirituality movement; ideological currents within gay and lesbian communities in the 1970s; thoughts on the philosophical and practical aspects of social change; involvement in HIV/AIDS care giving; social work career in HIV/AIDS agencies; working at Bailey-Boushay House; comparisons of gay movement emphases since 1990s (military and marriage) with earlier decades.
Dr. Harold Johnson was born in 1934 in Chesterfield, Tennessee. Johnson is white and employed as a psychiatrist and has resided in the Puget Sound area since 1963.
In the interview, Dr. Harold Johnson discusses growing up in Tennessee (Henderson County and Memphis), 1930s and '40s; extended family relationships; early awareness of sexual orientation and attractions; gay bars in Memphis area; decisions to study medicine and psychiatry; residencies in New Orleans and at Public Health Service Hospital, Seattle; involvement in Dorian Society (late 1960s); American Psychiatric Associations declassifying of homosexuality as a mental illness; friendships with local gay organizers (Faygele ben Miriam, Charlie Brydon, David Baird) and national gay figures; Dorian Society meeting with Mayor Wes Uhlman; psychiatry practice; reflections on political changes for gays and lesbians.
Contact UW Special Collections for terms of use.
Mavis "Tiny" Jones was born in 1933 in Flint Township, Illinois, and has resided in the Puget Sound area since approximately 1942. Jones is part Native American, part white.
In the interview, Jones discusses growing up in Seattle/south end; Seattle in the 1940s; early awareness of sexual orientation; Seattle gay venues from 1950s-1970s: Blue Button cafe, Garden of Allah, Mocambo; tending bar at the Grand Union and Silver Slipper (gay women's taverns); Pioneer Square atmosphere; treatment of gays by police, witnessing incidents of brutality; friendships and acquaintanceships w. other narrators interviewed by NWLGHMP (MacIver Wells, Bill Regan, Rose Bohanan); partying, social life, and relationships; gay/lesbian picnics in Maple Valley; Tamarack organization, 1960s and 70s; friendships w. gay men and effects of AIDS. Work life: factory jobs, tending bar, a cleaning company, managing ranches and taverns. Alcohol addiction and recovery, role of A.A.; witnessing "miracles" in A.A. settings. Interactions with African-American community, Seattle jazz clubs, and "Big Louis": learning about discrimination. Social life in Index, WA; hosting visitors and Thanksgiving dinners. The Steven Farmer case (1987): friendship with Steven; participation in circumstances around Steven's arrest; testifying in the case; backlash from Steven's supporters.
Selma Kannel was born in 1926, in The Bronx, New York. Kannel is Jewish, and works as a medical information specialist. Kannel has resided in the area since 1974. Nancy King was born in 1933 in Portsmouth, Arkansas. King is white, described as an "Ozarkian", and works as a clinical psychologist. King has been a resident of the Seattle area since 1974.
In the interview, Kannel discusses early interest in biological sciences; father's violent side; experiences of antisemitism; realizations of sexual identity, in therapy, and how that affected the decision on how to raise her son; involvement with Metropolitan Community Church and impressions of Rev. Troy Perry; founding of Beth Chaim Chadashim (Los Angeles), and involvement with Congregation Tikvah Chadashah (Seattle); challenging patriarchal theology and antisemitism. King discusses family background; growing up in Germany as a U.S. military family; graduate studies in experimental psychology; Arkansas and Kansas; husband coming out as gay; finding lesbian community. Both Kannel and King discuss childhood ambitions and family life; sense of difference; marriages and children; education interests and career paths for women in post-WWII era; coming out as lesbians post marriage; feminism; gays and lesbians in films, plays, books; involvement with other organizations in Seattle and Snohomish County: Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Snohomish County; Lavender Panthers; concerns about aging and health.
Rev. Mineo Katagiri was born in 1919 in Haleiwa, Hawaii. Rev. Katagiri is a Japanese-American minister in the United Church of Christ and was a Seattle area resident from 1959-1970.
In the interview, Rev. Mineo Katagiri discusses parents' background in Japan; their experience in the Hawaii plantation system; growing up in Hawaii and attending church-run schools; YMCA conference in Amsterdam in 1939 and decision to become a minister; experiences in Europe at the outbreak of World War II; helpful encounter with pilot "Captain Julian" (Herbert Julian), and anxious voyage home; Buddhist upbringing and development of his theological perspectives; studies at Union Theological Seminary in New York; speaking about Japanese-American internment during World War II; effects of World War II on Japanese-American community in Hawaii; formation of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team; United Church of Christ and its Metropolitan Ministry during the 1960s; ministering to people frequenting Seattle's First Avenue and Pioneer Square in the 1960s (Skid Road); participating in the Forward Thrust program; involvement in local civil rights movement and getting businesses to change discriminatory practices; Central Area Civil Rights Committee; starting the Friendly Town program; his friendship with local pawnbroker and hotel owner Ruby Label; beginnings of the First Avenue Service Center; ministering to and advocating for gay people in Seattle; involving other clergy in gay-friendly ministry; origins of Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities; his non-confrontational methods and mediating in disputes; Forward Thrust; working as emissary for Governor Dan Evans; campus ministry at the University of Washington; wife's and daughter's careers; working for the United Church of Christ home office in New York and mediating in civil rights disputes in the South; thoughts on the Christian and Buddhist roots of advocating for the dispossessed.
Linda Knighton was born in 1947 in Watertown, New York. Knighton is White, Creek, and Seminole, and has been a Northwest resident in Idaho, eastern Washington, and Seattle since her late teens. Knighton is a writer and was formerly a title searcher and tele-fundraiser.
In the interview, Knighton discusses Southeast Native American ritual and traditions; status of bisexuality in those cultures; bisexuals in the gay culture; gay groups and homophobia in eastern Washington and Idaho; involvement in environmental, pro-choice, and body-acceptance causes; body-acceptance organizations; Affirmation, group for Mormon gay people; popularity of the Xena tv series among lesbians and other groups, including Christians.
William "Bill" Kramer was born in 1917, in Queens, New York. Kramer is German and French. Kramer's occupations include being a retail buyer, real estate; interior designer; and an owner of an antique business. Kramer has been a Seattle area resident since 1944.
In the interview, Kramer describes growing up in the northeast U.S.; being support of the family due to father's death and the Depression; hitchhiking across the country in the 1940s; long-term relationship; livelihoods from retail buying and real estate (fixing up older high-end houses); learning to run a business; the Etruscans (private gay men's social club that included cross-dressing); Seattle gay bars in the 1950s; gay and lesbian friendships; organizing and active gay social life that wasn't bar oriented: hosting dinners, dining out as mixed couples, progressive dinners; support of friends when partner died; views on flamboyance of younger gays and lesbians.
Lauren Larga was born on December 9, 1930, in Placerville, California. The name is a pseudonym. Larga has Italian ancestry and is a biotech worker. Larga has been a Seattle area resident since about 1952.
In the interview, Larga discusses growing up in a small town in northern California; fascination with older lesbian women there with bad reputations; finding lesbian pulp fiction novels; first relationship, with gym teacher, and effect on that woman's career; move to Washington State/Seattle; Seattle lesbian bars (Grand Union) in 1950s/60s; butch/femme relationships and her dissatisfaction with and critique of gender roles; friendships with other lesbians who also rejected such roles; police violence toward gay men she knew; rejection of religious doctrine; observations on relationships, lesbian community, bisexuality, feminism, changes since the 1950s: discussion groups now versus entertainment venues then, loosening of taboos on sexual discussion.
Rae Larson was born in 1941 in Los Angeles, California. Larson is white and is employed as a therapist and formerly as director of Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities. Larson has resided in the Puget Sound area since the late 1960s. Ann Manly was born in 1942 in Leesburg, Florida. Manly is white and employed as a culinary arts consultant and formerly as director of Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities. Manly has resided in the Puget Sound area since the late 1960s.
In the interview, Rae Larson and Ann Manly discuss Seattle Counseling Service for Homosexuals (later: for Sexual Minorities) in the early 1970s; running a therapy agency as an all-volunteer organization; political and/or counter-culture outlooks of those involved; influence of counterculture values on gay community in early '70s; intersections between political activism and therapy community; observations on how social change movements are susceptible to opportunists; early differences in values from mainstream therapists and funding sources; changes in S.C.S. over time.
Skippy LaRue was born on April 15, 1921 in Port Arthur, Texas. LaRue died on December 21, 2003. LaRue was white.
In the interview, LaRue discusses growing up and living in the Red Light district in Port Arthur; passing as a girl; life in the brothels and race relations among the sex workers (1920s, 1930s); "bawdy houses" and payoffs to police and officials during Prohibition era; cross-dressing and drag; other brushes with the law; working the carnivals as an x-rated entertainer and in sideshow games and cons; slang terms used in the trade; occasional "straight" jobs, at Boeing and elsewhere; running "party houses" in Seattle; the Garden of Allah (Seattle drag performance bar) and reminiscences of Jackie Starr, Hotcha Hinton, and other drag performers.
Lenore N. was born in 1957, and has been a Puget Sound area resident since 1975.
In the interview, Lenore N. talks about growing up and schooling in the Midwest (Iowa) as daughter of intellectuals; learning about gayness through friends and reading James Baldwin; activism at Evergreen College; Gay Resource Center (at Evergreen); Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women; Union of Sexual Minorities (Seattle) and Seattle Counseling Center for Sexual Minorities; USM's newsletter "The Other Side"; addressing labor issues; "cultural (radical) feminism" vs lesbian/gay male coalitions; single- vs multi-issue approaches; radical vs liberal/libertarian politics among gays; celebratory vs political aspects of Pride Day; relations with Seattle police.
James Malatak was born on August 13, 1942, in Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania. Malatak is white, a technical illustrator at Boeing, and a Seattle area resident since about 1969.
In the interview, Malatak discusses early childhood feelings regarding gayness, other gay boy; incidents with priest in teen years; coming out selectively to some family members; first adult gay experiences in Air Force after high school; resumed gay life in San Fransisco when transferred to California, early 1960s; gay "clique" in the military; first real gay friendship with a Black soldier; military duties in radar mechanics, crash recovery, ordinance/napalm preparation; CIA linkage; reflections regarding Thailand and Laos; career at Boeing; reflections regarding the Catholic church, NAMBLA, and the Monastery (disco venue); enjoyment of disco music, dancing, and Seattle venues for disco; Dorian Society, early 1970s; long-term relationship; different levels of acceptance of his and partner's families.
Gail McDougall was born in 1947 in California. McDougall's exact birthplace and ethnic origin is unknown because McDougall is adopted. McDougall works as a casual laborer and cook, and was a Seattle resident from 1970 to 1993. McDougall is now living in Spokane, moving there after 1993.
In the interview, McDougall discusses childhood awareness of sexual orientation; lesbian relationships in juvenile lockup; butch/femme roles among lesbians in the 1960s; effects of butch/femme ideas on relationships; relationships and friendships with other gay women and gay men; limited job opportunities for butch-looking women; being streetwise; gay bars and drag shows; membership in an "affirming" church; terminology ("gay", "queer", et cetera); gay life in California, Seattle, and Spokane.
Joe McGonagle was born in the early 1940s in Boston, Massachusetts. McGonagle is Irish-American and employed as a bar owner, city office worker, and warehouse manager and has resided in the Seattle area since 1961.
In the interview, Joe McGonagle discusses Seattle gay bars in the 1960s; being a bar owner (Golden Horseshoe and Shelly's Leg); police payoffs in the 1960s; how police wanted him to kill his business partner; Queen City Business Guild in the late 1970s; how Shelly's Leg got its name; childhood awareness of sexual orientation; early gay experiences; locations of 1960s/'70s gay bars; blue laws.
Paul McPherson was born in 1952 in Artesia, New Mexico. McPherson is Scottish-Irish-Cherokee and is employed as a computer analyst. McPherson has resided in the Seattle area since 1972 or '73.
In the interview, Paul McPherson discusses gay life in California in the 1960s and '70s; contrasts between Hollywood and San Francisco; influence of hippie culture on emerging gay community in San Francisco; communal and spiritual values among hippies and their origins; emergence of the Castro district as a gay community, late 1960s; move to Seattle in early '70s and contrasts with California; disco bars and after-hours scene in 1970s; Triangle Recreation campground in Index, WA; influence from Native American family members.
Jane Meyerding was born in 1950 in Chicago, Illinois. Meyerding is white and has been employed as Program Coordinator at University of Washington, a writer on nonviolence, and is the author of Everywhere House (novel). Meyerding has been a Seattle resident since 1972.
In the interview, Jane Meyerding discusses family's political background (American Friends Service Committee, peace movement); involvement in Vietnam era anti-war movement; "second-wave" feminism; publishing Out and About (Seattle lesbian-feminist newsletter, 1970s/'80s); lesbian-feminist philosophy and community; writing on nonviolence; origins of Everywhere House; jail experiences; civil disobedience during Initiative 13 campaign.
Don Moreland was born on October 2, 1936 in Renton, Washington. Moreland is white and has been a lifelong Seattle area resident, with residence in California during the 1960s and '70s.
In the interview, Don Moreland discusses Education at University of Washington, atmosphere for gay and female law students in 1950s; service in U.S. Navy, 1950s/'60s; gay life in 1960s and on (Seattle and Los Angeles); methods and strategies of political and non-profit fund-raising, especially among affluent donors; importance of having gay people in the legislature; Gov. Booth Gardner's executive order against discrimination against gays and lesbians; passage of state-wide gay rights bill in 2006; history and role of the Bailey-Boushay House; establishing the UW Gay and Lesbian Studies Endowed Library Fund. Moreland further discusses involvement in gay/lebsian organizations, 1970s on: Gay Community Services Center (L.A.), Municipal Elections Committee of Los Angeles, camping trips with gay [motor] biking enthusiasts, Greater Seattle Business Association, Washington state AIDS Commission, MOM Trust/Pride Foundation, Bailey-Boushay House (Seattle); involvement in political organizing: Proposition 6 (California, 1978), Gay Democrats of Seattle, Dorian Group (Washington state), Privacy Fund (Washington state), Human Rights Campaign Fund (national board), King County Civil Rights Compliance board, Seattle Civil Rights Commission, Northwest Commission Against Malicious Harassment, Mature Friends (Seattle). Moreland also discusses friendships and working relationships with other political and cultural figures: Morris Kight, Harvey Muggy, Cal Anderson, Ed Murray, David Mixner, Dennis O'Mohundro, Jim Holm, Tim Bradbury, Thatcher Bailey, Frank Boushay, and Pete-e Petersen and Jane [Abbott Lighty].
Candace Naisbitt was born on January 6, 1949, in Springfield, Ohio. Naisbitt is white and has resided in Seattle since 1982.
In the interview, Naisbitt discusses childhood experiences in friends' churches and sense of safety and peace found there; early attraction to ministry; early same sex attractions and example of gay brother's experience; meeting other lesbians through National Organization for Women in Los Angeles in early 1970s; Ivy Bottini and feminist consciousness-raising; friendship with Sandra Fosshage*; meeting women via lesbian bars in Los Angeles; discovering Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) in Los Angeles, early 1970s; training of MCC ministers in 1970s; early pastoral assignments in Stockton, CA; Salt Lake City, Austin; starting new MCC fellowships; serving as pastor of Seattle MCC congregation, 1982-1985; MCC's relationship with Capitol Hill United Methodist Church**; personal and denominational challenges of MCC ministry; significance of MCC in gay communities; the art of preaching; burnout from ministry; interpreting Christian theology regarding gays; Seattle-area mainstream denominations and welcoming congregations (to gays); Rev. Nancy Wilson of MCC; meeting Bird Johnson; working in the mental health field; role models; raising a son.
Mark Newton was born in 1946 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Newton is white and employed as a consultant in organizational sociology. Newton has resided in the Seattle area since 1996.
In the interview, Mark Newton discusses adolescent feelings regarding sexuality; sexual abuse from a minister and its ramifications; endeavor to live as heterosexual, marriage and family; military service in Vietnam; observations of race and drug problems and antiwar attitudes among fellow soldiers; lack of resources available to Vietnam vets for re-entry to civilian life; graduate studies; inadequacy of therapy in dealing with sexual orientaion; coming to terms with gayness and its effects on family members; positive relationship with daughter; gay relationships and attraction of Seattle for gay people; establishing family-like relationship with elderly neighbor; reflections on spirituality and gay culture.
Michele M. Nota was born in 1939 in New York, New York, and died in 1997. Nota was Italian-American and worked as a teacher and an accountant. Nota resided in Seattle starting in 1972.
In the interview, Nota discusses the influence of family/ethnic background on education and personal goals; lesbian relationships and bars in New York City in the 1950s; formation of interests in therapy; social activism and feminism; identifying as lesbian rather than gay, and critical view on gay males' emasculation of heterosexual roles and women's dress; eyewitness account of first Gay Pride march in New York, 1970; move to Seattle and involvement with the Lesbian Resource Center and University YWCA in 1970s; lesbian-feminist politics; dealing with cancer and end-of-life issues.
Virgil "Jerry" Olson was born in 1928, Berlin, North Dakota. Olson is white and is a retired professor of sociology. Olson has been a Northwest resident since 1954, living in Pullman, Washington; later Ellensburg. Olson has been a resident of the Puget Sound area since 1978.
In the interview, Olson discusses family relationships; small town life in North Dakota; childhood sexuality; learning about homosexuality; flamboyant individuals in the area; working in a Fargo motel; same-sex encounters and social life in the northern Midwest in the 1940s; evolvement of gay identity throughout academic career: Southern Methodist University (Dallas), University of Nebraska, Washington State University (Pullman), Stephen R. Austin (Nacogdoches, Texas), Central Washington University (Ellensburg); teaching "deviant behavior" course; opportunities provided by studies and visiting professorships to experience gay life elsewhere; colleagues' and administrators' attitudes re homosexuality; significant relationships; coming out to colleagues and home town people upon publishing announcement of partner's death; Mature Friends (Seattle social organization for older gay people); reflections on life path and conditions for young gays and lesbians.
Mike O'Neill was born in 1944 in upstate New York, but was a Seattle resident since 1962. O'Neill died on April 19th, 2004. O'Neill was white, and was a former theater cast member, gay bar worker, fisherman, and longshore worker; O'Neill was also the owner of Wild Lily Ranch Bed and Breakfast in Index, Washington. In the interview, O'Neill discusses childhood awareness of gayness; family dynamics; serving in the Air Force in Tacoma area as a personnel specialist, 1960s; condition of Pioneer Square area, late 1960s-on, and gay bar scene there; group house living in SOuth Seattle -- the "Villa Mae" and its residents; role of drugs in that scene; performing in drag; opening the Silver Slipper tavern; friendship with Mocambo restaurant owner Bob ("B.B.") Bedford; friendship with Shelly (Battle) of Shelly's Leg fame; working on a charter sailboat in Hawaii; gay presence in town of Index, Washington; gay picnics and the origin of the high heel races; Triangle Recreation Camp; Seattle cruising area on First Avenue, "Penney's Corner", and frightening incident with a Marine; reminiscing about local drag personalities; incidents of violence against gay men; getting his motorcycle "christened" in a leather bar; reminiscences about bars, Eagles Auditorium as Seattle's main rock palace; Tacky Tourist cruises through the locks; starting the Wild Lily B&B; rock festivals in the region; reminiscences of the Triangle Recreation Camp.
Ray Ordway was born in 1922, in Vancouver, Washington. Ordway is Scotch-Irish and is employed in watch repair and real estate. Ordway has been a Seattle resident since 1962. Ed Miller was born in 1924, in Belgrade, Nebraska. Miller is broadly European and works in typesetting and real estate. Miller has been a Seattle resident since 1962. In the interview, Miller discusses growing up during the Depression; military service in World War II; employment in print and newspaper industries. Ordway talks about growing up during the Depression; gay life in Portland, Oregon, in the 1950s; employment in watch and jewelry business. Both discuss meeting in Portland in 1957; work and residences: social life as a gay male couple in Portland and Seattle from the 1950s on (football parties, yacht parties, bicycling); real estate career; Mature Friends; reflections on long-term relationships and changes in social climate for gay people.
Shan Ottey was born in 1946 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and has resided in Seattle since 1969. Ottey is white and works as an engineering technician. In the interview, Ottey discusses growing up in a tough neighborhood; early awareness of lesbianism; relationship with another girl; friendship with gay male couple; juvenile detention, reform school, and prison experiences; Stonewall Rebellion (New York, 1969); reasons for moving to Seattle; involvement in counter-culture, political groups, and KRAB radio; lesbian-feminism and lesbian separatism in Seattle; community organizing in Seattle's Cascade neighborhood; overcoming addiction and illiteracy; pursuing interests in radio and electronic media.
Don Paulson was born on May 17, 1933, in Seattle, Washington. Paulson is white and is employed as an artist and an author, having written An Evening at the Garden of Allah: A Gay Cabaret in Seattle. Paulson is a lifelong resident of Seattle, but has also resided in New York City and the Los Angeles area.
In the interview, Paulson talks about growing up in Seatac and Auburn areas; schooling, early interest in art, and art training from Olive Malstrom Carl and Elizabeth Barlow, and later in Los Angeles; early awareness of sexual orientation; family dynamics; army service in the early 1950s; interests in jazz and bohemian/arts communities; art scene and gay life in New York in the 1950s; pursuing art interests in New York and in the Los Angeles area; researching the history of The Casino after-hours club ("Madame Peabody's"), Seattle; clientele at "Madame Peabody's"; return to New York in the 1960s, Andy Warhol and Pop Art movement; acceptance of gays in the art world; contrasts between New York and Seattle art scenes; "Lux Sit" and operating light shows for rock bands in the 1960s and 1970s in Seatlte; leftist political interests; living on Vashon Island.
Vernell Pratt was born on December 22, 1945, in Marshall, Texas. Pratt is white and works as a legal secretary/judicial assistant. Pratt has resided in the Seattle area since 1978.
In the interview, Pratt describes the political climate in east Texas when growing up; meeting lesbian friends during college years in Lubbock, Texas; early work in journalism; moving to Austin and involvement in gay scene there; involvement in National Lawyers Guild and progressive politics, lesbian-feminism; moving to San Francisco; moving to Seattle; Initiative 13 campaign and Women Again Thirteen; Freedom of Information Act (political theater group); involvement with Line of March/"the Trend" (Marxist/Leninist group) and the Jesse Jackson campaign; socialist groups and their positions on gay rights/homophobia; political organization among Alaska cannery workers and links with progressive Filipino-American political movement; assassination of Alaska Cannery Workers Association organizers; reflections on identity and politics.
Dale Peters was born in 1942 in Seattle, Washington. Peters is white and retired. Jim Hoy was born in 1939 in Yakima, Washington. Hoy is white and is employed in the postal service.
In the interview, Hoy and Peters discuss long-term gay male relationship; gay male sexuality and cruising in parks as an element of gay male culture; Seattle gay bars and after hours clubs in the 1960s and 1970s (Casino/"Madame Peabody's", Golden Horseshoe, Silver Slipper, Marshall's Office, Shelly's Leg); police payoffs and harassment; progress of gays toward mainstream acceptance; impact of AIDS; Capitol Hill as center of gay life; Triangle Recreation Campground (Index, Washington); triad relationships and implications for domestic partner benefits.
Michael "Mike" Ramey was born in 1942. No other biographical information has been collected. In the interview, Ramey discusses the Seattle meeting of "fathers of the queer movement"; late 1960s; feelings regarding religion; feelings regarding Harvey Muggy, SEAMEC; Initiative 13 (1978); transexualism; observations on norms and queerness.
Jim Rankin was born in 1936, in Seattle, Washington. Rankin is white and is a retired teacher. Rankin has lived in the Seattle area and eastern Washington.
In the interview, Rankin discusses observations on male sexuality during youth; situational homosexuality among young heterosexual males and how it was initiated; resources for gay social life (bars and organizations) in the Seattle area, from late 1950s and on; balancing teaching career with orientation; Puddletown Squares (GLBT square dance organization); Dignity/Seattle (organization for GLBT Catholics) and effects of the child abuse scandal; observations on gay life from travels to Canada and San Francisco.
Dennis Raymond was born in 1950 in Wyandotte, Michigan. Raymond is white and works as a software product manager. Raymond has resided in Seattle since 1973.
In the interview, Raymond discusses a sense of difference (being an "outsider") in blue-collar family background; growing up in Detroit; political activism in Detroit and Ann Arbor; coming out in a radical political context; Gay Liberation Front (Detroit); the Northwest's attraction for Detroit- and Boston-area gays in the 1970s; gay activism in Seattle: Union of Sexual Minorities/Washington Coalition for Sexual Minority Rights; Initiative 13 campaign, Seattle Committee Against Thirteen (SCAT); aftermath of the I-13 campaign; Gay Community Center in its later years; the Body Electric, reflections on sexuality and personal growth.
John Reed was born in 1954 in Tacoma, Washington. Reed is white and is employed as sales support at AT&T.
In the interview, Reed discusses early fascination with drag queens; the International Court System; the Court of Seattle; starting the Court of Tacoma; recollections of drag contests and contestants; the appeal of drag show glamour and "royalty"; negative views on drag from some in gay community; changes in the gay community in the 1970s; contrasts between Seattle and Tacoma; contrasts in the drag scene in the 1970s and 1990s.
William (nicknamed Bill) Regan was born in 1919 on the Suquamish Reservation in Washington. Regan is Native American.
See also follow-up interview, dated December 6, 1998.
In the interview, Regan discusses wigmaking, "passing" in drag; arrests and treatment by police, Chicago and New York, 1950s-early 60s; long-term relationship with Tim; stories regarding friends and neighbors; gay bar scene and police in Seattle; escape from Indian School when a kid, passing as a girl; working as waitress during World War II, and "boyfriend" story; drag circuit in Alaska; gay slang.
Irene Reynolds was born in 1925 in Massachusetts, and has resided in the Puget Sound area since about the mid-1950s. Reynolds' occupations include military and reserves, cook and café manager, can company worker, and Shaklee distributor.
In the interview, Reynolds describes an early awareness of being gay; butch/femme roles; meeting gay women in the WAACS in 1940s, in New England, other states; marriage to a serviceman; move to Seattle; dating scene in local gay bars in 1950s; Grand Union, Double Header, Cimbrie's; Tamarack Club dances and costume parties; dance antics; relationships and their problems: being mother-figure to partner's daughter; getting teased for being gay; having to hide gayness in some social settings; unrequited love; opinions regarding infidelity, one-night stands, informal gay marriage; partners who don't pay their own way; heterosexual women who flirt with lesbians.
Tom Richards was born on May 28, 1951 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Richards is white and a social worker. Richards has been a Seattle resident since 1973.
In the interview, Richards discusses sexual activity in high school years in Indianapolis; coming of age during the Vietnam War; move to Canada and return to the United States; friendship with AIDS activist Bobbi Campbell; anti-gay harassment in Phinney Ridge neighborhood in the 1970s ("Hate War on Sycamore"); countering pro-Initiative 13 signature gatherers (1978), including Congressman Jim McDermott's father; Seattle Committee Against Thirteen; the post-Thirteen political climate and 1979 March on Washington; impact of AIDS; Chicken Soup Brigade; Northwest AIDS Foundation, and AIDS politics; reflections on career and progress of local gay community.
Zachary Saber was born in 1955 in Glendale, Arizona. Saber is white and is a massage therapist. Previously, Saber was the former owner of Sappho's Tavern and the former manager of The Crypt. Saber has been a Puget Sound area resident since 1970.
In the interview, Saber discusses the transition as a female-to-male transsexual (FtM); growing up in a military family; Air Force career and discharge for being a lesbian; butch/femme lesbian culture in the 1970s and expectations for butch partners; managing a lesbian tavern and leather sex store; negative aspects of bar ownership and clientele; observations on the S&M community; circumstances leading to the decision to begin transition; Ingersoll Gender Center; choice of name; results of hormone therapy; reflections on gender and identity.
Margaret "Maggie" Anne Savage was born in 1936, and died on August 22, 2020. Savage was white and was a mostly lifelong resident of Seattle. Savage's occupations included being a musician, a school guidance counselor, and a social worker for Washington State.
In the interview, Savage discusses early music interests and training; discovering that she could reproduce music by ear; using music as a Girl Scout camp counselor; musical activities at Whitman College in 1950s; returning to graduate school for social work; forming folk ensemble with Mike Moloso; creating and performing at "92 Yesler" (Seattle venue), early 1960s; performing "Wasn't It a Mighty Day When the Needle Hit the Ground" during Seattle World's Fair period and repercussions; folk music revival and performing in Arizona; becoming and independent musician; touring and meeting other musicians: Steve Goodman, Malvina Reynolds, Holly Near, and others; other musical influences; coming out as gay; participation in the feminist-oriented Women's Music movement; songwriter and performer for the Co-Respondents (women's history presentations); writing the "International Women's Year Conference Anthem" for the Houston convention (1977); feminist activism in Seattle area; producing two audiocassette albums; origins of the songs; organizing "Song and Word" workshops on Shaw Island with partner Sharon Wootton; reflections on musical career and gayness.
Cyprienne Schroeppel was born in 1949 in El Paso, Texas. Schroeppel is white and works as a craftsperson (weaving, graphic design).
In the interview, Schroeppel talks about personal history as a bisexual; discovering the concept of bisexuality in the 1960s counterculture context (Boston Area); Women's Center (Cambridge, MA); feminist consciousness raising and bisexuality; starting a women's bisexuality discussion group; prejudice against bisexual women on the part of lesbians; stereotypes of bisexuals; reclaiming language formerly used as derogatives; Seattle Bisexual Women's Network (SBWN); differences in men's and women's appreach to bisexual discussions; visibility; conferences on bisexuality; forming community; poly-amorous relationships; local and national resources for bisexuals.
Ken Scott was born in 1945 in Everett, Washington. Scott is white and is retired, formerly a small business owner. Scott has been a lifelong Puget Sound resident, with periods of foreign travel and residence.
In the interview, Scott describes growing up in Everett, Washington; adolescent sexuality and impressions of gayness; college years in Seattle (University of Washington); Peace Corps service in Honduras and Morocco; travels in Europe, Central Asia, and Middle East; homosexuality in those cultures; contrasting cultural attitudes toward obesity; HOPWA (Helpers of Persons with AIDS) and other gay organizations in the Everett area.
Mary Scott was born on May 26, 1942, in Baltimore, Maryland. Scott is white and has been a Seattle resident since 1971 and a Snohomish resident since the mid-1980s.
In the interview, Scott discusses growing up in the South as a daughter of union organizer and progressive activists, 1950s; dangers associated with that activity there; early reading and boys' play interests; education (Blackburn College, Illinois) and discovering sexual orientation; Rittenhouse Square and gay taverns in Philadelphia, 1960s; butch/femme roles; early social work career in Alabama; lesbians and women's softball in small southern towns; influence of Civil Rights Movement; participating in the Selma/Montgomery (Alabama) Civil Rights demonstrations; traveling to western U.S. and Canada, 1969; brother's involvement with draft resisters' community in Vancouver; working in agriculture in California and contrasts with the South; continuing with social work in California and reasons for leaving it; moving to Seattle in the early 1970s and local resources for lesbians then; early days of Lesbian Resource Center at University YWCA; stories regarding Silver Slipper tavern (Seattle) and feeling at home in post-Stonewall lesbian communities; GLBT and AIDS organizations in Snohomish County, 1980s: Helpers of People with Aids (HOPWA), Gay and Lesbian Coalition; Potluck Library and getting gay-themed books in country library systems; Snohomish County Dyke Hikers; role of Snohomish County Health District and local churches in GLBT support; state of sex education for youth in the area at that time; social events; working as a milker in a Snohomish County dairy; conditions for dairy workers in the 1980s and 1990s; peace vigils in Everett in response to 2nd Iraq War.
John Sheets was born on December 17, 1948, in Santa Barbara, California. Sheets is white and works as a librarian. Sheets has resided in the Seattle area since childhood, in Shoreline, Washington.
In the interview, Sheets discusses growing up and schooling in Shoreline area; early awareness of orientation; political activism: Union of Sexual Minorities (USM), Washington Coalition for Sexual Minority Rights (WCSMR); Freedom Socialist Party and its methods; getting "sexual orientation" in librarians' union non-discrimination wording; Initiative 13 campaign: Seattle Committee Against Thirteen (SCAT); visiting gay men at Monroe prison, Sexual Minority Prisoners Caucus; involvement with gay Cubanos after Mariel boatlift; reflections on personal life.
Ben Shepherd was born on July 4, 1933, in Seattle, Washington. Shepherd is white and a lifelong resident of Seattle, but had a brief residence in San Francisco.
In the interview, Shepherd discusses childhood awareness of gayness; family relationships; gay nightspots in Seattle, 1950s on; Double Header, Red Arrow Club, Casino ("Madame Peabody's Dancing Academy"), Silver Slipper, others; Jamma Phi (early gay social group) and the high heel races; police attitudes; cross dressing; welcoming churches and spiritual communities: Metropolitan Community Church, Unity, others.
Kunihito Shirota was born in 1973 in Okinawa, Japan. Shirota is Japanese, lives in the Seattle area, and works in computer science.
In the interview, Shirota describes growing up as a gay youth in Japan; early expressions of orientation, fondness for women's clothes and uniforms; attitudes of family, school mates, and teachers; gay life in Japan; cultural attitudes toward relationships with foreigners and/or Caucasisans; words and expressions used among Japanese gay men; feminization of first names; comparisons of cultural attitudes toward gayness, sexuality, AIDS; decision to come to the United States; experiences in ESL classes (Seattle Central Community College) and with university studies; comparisons of ways of expressing oneself in Japanese and English; comparisons of cultural conformity versus individualism in Japan and conservatism in U.S.; observations on the expectations of being a cultural ambassador, relationship with older American partner, and effects of U.S. immigration policy on life decisions.
Miriam Singer was born in 1920 in New Britain, Connecticut. Singer is Jewish and has been a Seattle area resident since 2000.
In the interview, Singer describes being the mother of Seattle gay activist Faygele ben Miriam (born John Singer); life in New York City from 1930s; father's socialist and atheistic values; joining Young Communist League in 1930s, and leaving it when Hitler-Stalin Pact was signed. World War II years, husband's military service; education (University of Wisconsin; Columbia University); marriage; family; community involvement in post-war years: speaking for civil rights organizations, working for Planned Parenthood; Faygele as a child; family's reactions to Faygele coming out; Faygele's Army service, name change, and activism; Miriam's decision to move to Seattle after Faygele's death to be with his friends.
Rita Smith was born in 1944 in Wenatchee, Washington. Smith is white and is a lifelong Washington state resident.
In the interview, Smith discusses growing up as a daughter of an orchardist in Cashmere, Washington; upbringing and involvement in the Baptist faith; early relationships and coming to terms with sexual orientation in late 1960s; involvement with Lesbian Resource Center (Seattle) and University (District) YWCA in 1970s and 1980s; consciousness raising, peer counseling, and "rap groups" as lesbian/feminist tools for empowerment; advocating for lesbian issues at International Women's Year Conference (Ellensburg and Houston, 1977); political currents within the local lesbian community in the 1970s; influence of African-American Civil Rights movement on women's and gay rights efforts; Initiatives 13 and People of Faith Against Thirteen (Seattle, 1978); careers in teaching and in the recycling industry; involvement in Greater Seattle Business Association scholarship program; thoughts on creating favorable environment for race and class inclusiveness in organizations; family relationships; participation on (Seattle) Mayor's Advisory Committee for Sexual Minorities (1990s); attendance at 1993 March on Washington D.C.; thoughts on importance of community and creating conditions for community among lesbians; role of group singing for creating sense of community.
Marvin Sterling was born on December 20, 1940 in Phoenix, Arizona, and died on December 6, 1999. Sterling was an African-American nurse and a lifelong Seattle resident.
In the interview, Sterling discusses attitudes toward sexuality and identity; gay culture in the 1970s; the appeal of drag culture and female impersonation; drag personas and family names; partying; being an "illusionist"; founding the United Ebony Council (drag organization originally for African-American gay men); traveling in the drag circuit; reflections on his involvement in drag culture.
Duane Swanson was born in 1922, in Royal Iowa, and has been a Seattle area resident since 1968. Swanson is white and works as a mail carrier.
In the interview, Swanson describes life as a solitary man with intermittent contacts with gay men; growing up in a Midwestern small town; army experience at the end of World War II - Europe and Pacific; working at Yellowstone National Park; venues for meeting gay men in Montana; life in Seattle as a single man from late 1960s on; incident of entrapment of a gay teacher he knew, 1950s; positive and negative experiences of gay bars, bath houses, being robbed by casual sex partners; social life and friendships.
Lois Thetford was born in 1945 in the Virgin Islands, but grew up in New Jersey. Thetford is white and is employed as a teacher, physician's assistant, and health care provider. Thetford has resided in Seattle since 1970.
In the interview, Thetford talks about progressive political organizing in Seattle and Tacoma in the early 1970s; involvement of gay men and lesbians in progressive causes; personal history as a lesbian mother by choice; co-parenting with others, including gay activists Patrick Haggerty and Faygele ben Miriam; living in a political collective; involvement in the anti-war movement; the Shelter Half (G.I. coffeehouse in Tacoma); involvement with the Venceremos Brigade (Cuba); homophobia in Cuba; daughter's experience with schools and growing up in a counterculture setting; discrimination in the early years of physician's assistant training at University of Washington.
Len Tritsch was born on March 15, 1925 in Hewitt, Minnesota, and died May 14, 2015. Tritsch was a second generation German-American, and had been a teacher, health education coordinator, and a coach.
In the interview, Tritsch describes World War II service as a Navy pharmacist's mate; training; the Pacific theater; observations on physical relationships among men during wartime; post-war STD prevention efforts aimed at servicemen in Shanghai; education on the G.I. bill; career as teacher and coach; conducting AIDS policy training for schools administrators.
MacIver Wells was born in 1921 in Knolton, Quebec, Canada, and died on June 18, 2000. Wells had Scotch-Canadian ancestry and worked as a tavern owner. Wells was a resident of the Seattle area starting in 1957, becoming a Stanwood area resident in the late 1960s.
In the interview, Wells discusses owning and managing gay- and lesbian-oriented taverns in Seattle ("The 611", "The 614", "The Madison") in 1950s and 1960s; taverns' reputations; police payoff system; decision to contact reporters and FBI regarding payoffs and subsequent investigations in which he was a witness ("police payoff scandal" of late 1960s); experience with immigration service on becoming a U.S. citizen.
George Whitaker was born in 1941 in Santa Monica, California, but has resided in Bellevue since 1975. Whitaker is African-American (with some Native American and Caucasian ancestry), and works at the Department of Commerce. Richard Gates was born in 1946 in Los Angeles, California, but has resided in Bellevue since 1975. Gates has English and German ancestry, and is employed in the postal service.
In the interview, Whitaker and Gates discuss suburban gay interracial couple; dynamics of maintaining a long-term relationship and getting along with neighbors and family members; prejudice and progress affecting gays and people of color; changes in gay community and culture during their lifetimes; importance of discretion, stability, and maintaining a low profile while advocating for social justice and progressive political values; pros and cons of legal marriage; participation in "Black and White", an organization for gay male interracial couples; starting The Eastside Network (GLBT social organization); contrasts in availability of GLBT resources in urban and suburban settings; contrasts in gay community and quality of life in Seattle, East Side, and southern California.
Nancy White was born in 1947 in Hutchinson, Kansas, and died in 2003. White was white, a pediatric nurse, and a Seattle resident since 1991. In the interview, White describes living with cancer and the need for lesbian-friendly support groups, Seattle Lesbian Cancer Project; "survivor guilt"; childhood ambition to be a nurse; finding other lesbians at the University of Oklahoma in the 1960s; gender discrimination and workplace issues in nursing; insights gained from working with young cancer patients; family relationships and abuse, the power of forgiveness; long-term friendships; setting up a fund for other lesbians with illness through the Seattle Foundation and its purpose; spiritual beliefs, developing metaphysical abilities; thoughts about dying.
In the interview, White describes living with cancer and the need for lesbian-friendly support groups, Seattle Lesbian Cancer Project; "survivor guilt"; childhood ambition to be a nurse; finding other lesbians at the University of Oklahoma in the 1960s; gender discrimination and workplace issues in nursing; insights gained from working with young cancer patients; family relationships and abuse, the power of forgiveness; long-term friendships; setting up a fund for other lesbians with illness through the Seattle Foundation and its purpose; spiritual beliefs, developing metaphysical abilities; thoughts about dying.
Roger Winters was born in 1945 in Terre Haute, Indiana. Winters is white and is employed in records management. Winters has been a King County resident since 1977.
In the interview, Winters describes political education (Indiana University, Harvard); coming out in Boston in late 1960s; teaching political science in Ellensburg; Seattle gay activism in the 1970s: Dorian Group, Citizens to Retain Fair Employment, Initiative 13, and other efforts; forming SEAMEC; police department sensitivity training; addressing assaults on gay people; Norm Rice's political campaigns; police chief search committees; Legal Marriage Alliance; Pride Foundation; various county and state gay-related initiatives or legislation; general observations on gay activism and significance of the gay rights movement, and the role of marriage in society.
Larry Woelich was born in 1942 in Sainte Genevieve, Missouri. Woelich is white and is the owner of a cleaning business, formerly a bath manager. Woelich has lived in the Seattle area since 1978.
In the interview, Woelich discusses childhood expressions of sexuality; sexual abuse; teenage sexuality in a small town in Missouri; hustling and bar life in St. Louis; move to California; arrests and prison experience, the "queens' quad"; decision to reform his life; move to San Francisco and discovering the Castro district (late 1960s); becoming a manager for Club Baths chain; introducing STD screening in the baths; transfer to Dallas; forming the Dallas Alliance for Individual Rights; meeting life partner; involving the baths in gay rights campaigns: Coors and Florida orange boycotts (late 1970s); transfer to Seattle; forming the Greater Seattle Business Association; baths in Seattle; involvement in AIDS Advisory Task Force (King County Health Department), AIDS Housing Washington, Northwest AIDS Foundation, Chicken Soup, and other AIDS groups; introducing condoms and safe sex information in the baths; cooperation with public health system; death of partner; living with HIV and maintaining a positive outlook on life; reflections on changes for GLBT people during his lifetime; reflections on his background as a "country hillbilly", and life lessons.
Interviews for Renee Perry and Steve Nyman
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
No access copy available.
No access copy available.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; No access copy is available.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
3 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
8 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
3 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
3 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
3 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
3 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; No access copy is available.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
3 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
4 cassettes; Access copy is available for preview onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
5 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
6 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
4 cassettes; Access copy is available for preview onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
3 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
3 cassettes; No access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
No access copy available.
3 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
3 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
3 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
3 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
3 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
3 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
3 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
No access copy available.
Restricted
3 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
2 cassettes; Access copy is available for previewing onsite in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Press releases for the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women, Pacific Life Community, War Resisters League; assault hotline reports
Shelly Cohen is an attorney who was involved with the Seattle Mayor's Lesbian/Gay Task Force.
No access copy available for audiocassettes and videocassettes.
Names Project materials - newsletters and clippings
Names Project/Seattle Steering Committee- agendas and minutes
Names Project layout schematic at Washington State Convention Center
Binder of Police Payoff Scandal clippings and related documents
Independent Study Program for Susan E. Mann, Seattle Counseling Service materials, "Consultation on Gay and Lesbian Issues in the St. Paul School System" resource packet, published works of others
Article reprints by other authors on homosexuality, transsexualism, religion, GLBT youth; Erickson Education Foundation booklets; Albany Trust pamphlets; miscellaneous books on homosexuality; full inventory from donor
Memorabilia from the March on Washington (1993); articles and pamphlets on various LGBTQ-related topics
Articles on LGBT couples, parents of LGBT kids, Boy Scouts, civil liberties, science of homosexuality, LGBT culture
Washington Blade newspaper
Tickets, matchbooks, Flyer for Seattle LGBTQ venues
Initiative 13 T-Shirt: "Turn it Around, Seattle - Run against 13"
Essay "Gay Being," flyers for Gay/Lesbian March, Seattle Gay Clinic, The Gay Church, Dorian Group materials, G.C.C. Newsletter, Evangelicals Concerned Inc. newsletter, correspondence from the LaBelle Company, explicit zines
2 issues of "Wavelength"
Pamphlets; newsletters: "Lesbian Separatist Newsletter: Seattle," "The Woman's Woman, "Amazons Again"; Regional Lesbian-Feminist conference materials
Photocopy of "Narrative of Lucy Ann Lobdell, the Female Hunter"
Betty Dodson T-shirt
Initiative 13 Media Packet - Citizens to Retain Fair Employment
Seattle Lesbian & Gay Chorus memorabilia
Lyric sheets for Lesbian/Gay Rights march and anti-Initiative 13 gatherings
"Lesbian Separatism: An Amazon Analysis" manuscript, Lesbian Resource Center newsletters, Gay Community Center newsletters, event flyers, various lesbian articles, inventory from donor
"Liberating Masturbation: A meditation on self love" by Betty Dodson
Early 20th century articles on homosexuality and women's rights translated from the German by Lois Thetford
Donated by Ruth Pettis
Donated by Ruth Pettis
Donated by Tom Hubbard
From the International Gay & Lesbian Archives at USC
Designed by David Pitzer; donated by Donna Bertolino
2 posters in red and green
Autographed by cast
Donated by Brad Meryhew
"Street Kids," "Lights with Current: Lesbian/Gay News in the Pacific Northwest," "Easy Access," "Lady Gray Top Presents the 5th Annual Mrs. Hunky, a body contest" poster
Buttons promoting WA Referendum 74, Initiative 13, Equality Rights Act, ACT-UP, miscellaneous feminism