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Oral history interview with Connie McCready [Index]

Index. This oral history interview with Connie McCready was conducted by Clark Hansen at McCready’s home in Portland, Oregon, from March 21 to July 5, 1994. In this interview, McCready discusses her family background and early life in Portland. She also discusses her early career in journalism working for the Coos Bay Times and the Oregonian; and starting a family with her husband, Oregonian reporter Albert L. McCready. She discusses her involvement with the Republican Party, campaigning, her liberal politics, and her experience as a woman in the Oregon Legislature during the 1967 and 1969 sessions. McCready also discusses legislation she worked on, including taxes, fair employment, public transportation and TriMet, and her work on behalf of sternwheelers. McCready talks about some of the legislators she worked with, including Tom Mahoney, Bob Packwood, Stafford Hansell, and Jason Boe. She then discusses her time in the Portland City Council from 1970 to 1979, including the Mount Hood Freeway vote; the bureaus she ran, including fire, cable, and public works; her support for gay rights; and receiving death threats. She discusses the city commissioners and mayors she worked with, including Frank Ivancie, Neil Goldschmidt, Terry Schrunk, and Mildred Schwab. She also discusses her campaign against John Lorenz in 1976, and Portland's sister-city relationship with Sapporo, Japan.

McCready, Connie (Constance), 1921-2000

Oral history interview with Susie Shepherd [Transcript]

Transcript. This oral history interview with Susie Shepherd was conducted by Erin Sexton and Jamie Walton on November 4, 2000. Sexton and Walton conducted the interview for the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest as part of Professor Ann Mussey's senior capstone class on LGBTQ history at Portland State University. Several of Shepherd's pets were also present and occasionally interrupted the interview. In this interview, Shepherd discusses her identity as a gay woman. She talks about working with Jerry Weller on the Portland Town Council; about her experiences at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, and at Portland State University; and about her life as a lesbian in the 1970s. She speaks at length about coming out to her parents. She then speaks about her activism for gay rights with the Portland Town Council during the 1970s, and talks about some of the people she worked with, politicians they lobbied, and some of the opposition they faced. She also describes coming out on the television show "Town Hall." She discusses her abuse of alcohol in the late 1970s, describes how it affected her life and relationships, and talks about her recovery through Alcoholics Anonymous. She talks about her involvement in the Leather community, including winning the title of International Ms. Leather in 1989, and winning the title of International Master and Slaver with her partner, K.T. Chase, in 1992. She also describes how she parlayed those titles to further her activism for gay rights. She closes the interview by discussing her management of the Bill and Ann Shepherd Legal Scholarship.

Shepherd, Susie (Susan Mary), 1949-

Oral history interview with Steve Suss [Transcript]

Transcript. This oral history interview with Steve Suss was conducted by Danita Doun and Lachelle Ogden on February 15, 2011, as part of their Capstone course at Portland State University, under instructor Pat Young. Doun and Ogden conducted the interview for the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest, which collects the histories of organizations and individuals active in lesbian and gay issues in the Portland area and throughout the Pacific Northwest. In addition to the audio, the collection includes a transcript of the interview and photographs of Suss. In the interview, Suss discusses his ownership of Embers, a gay bar in Portland, Oregon. He also talks about serving on the board for Esther's Pantry, which provides food and clothing for people with AIDS. He discusses his stance on marriage equality; talks about owning a bar and steam bath in Seattle, Washington, but leaving due to city government corruption; and talks about his reasons for relocating to Portland and some of his early business ventures. He discusses the early years of owning Embers, beginning in 1971, including his attempt to expand its original location, and moving to the location on Broadway in 1981. He also talks about his relationship with his partner and his family. He closes the interview by talking about a lawsuit against the Oregon Liquor Control Commission that he was involved in.

Suss, Steve (Stephen C.), 1939-2020

Oral history interview with Holly Hart [Transcript]

Transcript. This oral history interview with Holly Hart was conducted by Winter Drews and James Loos at Hart's home in Portland, Oregon, on November 14, 2000. Drews and Loos conducted the interview for the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest as part of Professor Ann Mussey's senior capstone class on LGBTQ history at Portland State University. The interview transcript includes a written introduction by George Nicola. In this interview, Hart discusses her experience at Reed College in Portland during the 1960s, including her experience as a closeted lesbian and her political and civil rights activism. She talks about working for the Willamette Bridge newspaper, her involvement in the gay liberation movement, and coming out as a lesbian. She briefly talks about her experience studying law at the University of California at Berkeley, then discusses practicing law in Portland. She talks about cases she worked on, lawyers she worked with, and her focus on civil rights cases, particularly gay rights. She discusses serving on the Task Force on Sexual Preference and describes the report of recommendations she authored for the governor. She talks about her dissatisfaction with practicing law and her decision to instead open a restaurant, Old Wives' Tales; describes the process of opening the restaurant; and talks about her original plan to also open a bookstore. She speaks at length about running the restaurant and its role in the Portland community. She then discusses having a child via artificial insemination and talks about raising her daughter. She also discusses her involvement in Portland's Jewish community. She then revisits the topic of her restaurant and talks about the diversity of its clientele; discusses how social conditions for LGBTQ people have changed in Portland; and talks about her experience as a lesbian and a mother in Portland's Jewish community. She closes the interview by revisiting the topic of her work at the Willamette Bridge newspaper, describing instances of harassment she has experienced, and talking about her hopes for the future of gay rights.

Hart, Holly, 1947-

Oral history interview with Charles Hinkle, by Nathan Guynn, Michael Pratt and Nichant Mehra [Transcript]

Transcript. This interview is the 2nd of two separate interviews conducted in 2009. Hinkle focuses on the No On 9 campaign and his efforts in defeating Ballot Measure 9. Also discussed is the Oregon Citizens Alliance and its leaders, Lon Mabon and Scott Lively (whom Hinkle debated in a well-known Town Council broadcast.)

Hinkle, Charles F.

Oral history interview with Linda Rae Besant, by Emma Bagley and Emily Kahnert [Transcript]

Transcript. Besant discusses her involvement in the earliest incarnation of the vocal group The Dyketones; coming out in her early thirties (to herself & to her family); her commitment to Women In the Wilderness (aka Keep Listening); her life with her partner, Marcia; and the community at the Mountain Moving Cafe in the 1980s.

Besant, Linda

Oral history interview with Roey Thorpe, by Roxanne Michelle Holtman [Transcript]

Transcript. Thorpe discusses her tenure as Director of Basic Rights Oregon (2001-2006) and her subsequent role on staff at Planned Parenthood in Portland. Thorpe also discusses her youth in Columbia, SC, her coming-out process during the early 1980s, and the significant positions she has held in organizations dedicated to LGBT rights, non-profit community childcare, and at Empire State Pride Agenda (NY).

Thorpe, Rochella, 1962-

Oral history interview with Norm Costa [Transcript]

Transcript. This oral history interview with Norm Costa was conducted by Stephanie Munly and Ruben Reynaga from November 13-20, 2000. Munly and Reynaga conducted the interview for the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest as part of Professor Ann Mussey's senior capstone class on LGBTQ history at Portland State University. The interview was conducted in two sessions.

In the first interview session, conducted on November 13, 2000, Costa discusses coming to Portland, Oregon, from California in 1958. He talks about his experiences as an out gay man during that time, about his relationships, and about his career as a hairdresser. He discusses raising his niece, and his relationship with his mother. He talks about gay bars and clubs in Portland; discusses his work for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases; and talks about his work advocating for gay rights. He also briefly talks about racism within the gay community. He speaks at length about his work with AIDS/HIV patients, and talks about the history of public policy toward the disease. He talks about social conditions for young LGBTQ people from when he first came out as gay in 1947 to the time of the interview in 2000; describes the history of policing in the gay community; and talks about serving on the board of the Sexual Minorities Roundtable.

In the second interview session, conducted on November 20, 2000, Costa continues discussing his service on the board of the Sexual Minorities Roundtable. He talks about Portland Police Chief Mark Kroeker, the No on Measure 9 campaign, and his other political and advocacy work. He shares a story about being arrested in California in the late 1940s and serving time in San Quentin State Prison. He closes the interview by discussing issues facing the LGBTQ community in the 21st century.

Costa, Norm (Norman Robert), 1927-

Oral history interview with Patty Wolff, by David McCormack and Carla Moller [Transcript]

Transcript. Patty Wolff relates stories and anecdotes about the life of Wolff's partner of many years, Maxine L'Ecuyer, and about the lives of lesbians during the first half of the 20th century. Wolff's partner, Maxine L'Ecuyer (b. 1923), was a French-Canadian, left by her parents to be raised in a Catholic orphanage in Kansas. After moving to California on her own at age 14, L'Ecuyer worked as a movie projectionist for the Marines during WWII, after which she joined a Catholic convent, believing her sexuality to be an abomination. Denied the right to take her final vows, L'Ecuyer attended graduate school at the University of Washington, and was briefly institutionalized (as a result of her sexuality being revealed and compromising her professional career as a professor). L'Ecuyer retired to Portland in her late 50s, at which time she at last found a means of realizing her same-sex attractions to other women. L'Ecuyer met Patty Wolff circa 1992, at a rally on Pioneer Square in opposition of Ballot Measure 9.

Wolff, Patty

Oral history interview with Maria Council, by Gary Knapp and A. Krummenacker [Transcript]

Transcript. Maria Council is co-founder/President of Peacock After Dark. Council discusses her introduction to drag; her drag influences including "drag mother" Patty O'Dora and Lady Elaine Peacock; her reputation as Northwest's First Lesbian Drag Queen and subsequently as the first biologically female Empress of the Rose Court; her experiences in workplaces that required different levels of closeting and self-censorship; and her involvement with the local Portland church community.

Council, Maria

Oral history interview with Roy L. Watters III, by Jacqueline Marcotte [Transcript]

Transcript. Watters discusses his early life in Vancouver, Washington, life as a young gay man in Portland, Oregon in the 1970s, his experiences during the AIDS epidemic while in San Francisco, California, and feeling the need to hide his sexual orientation to protect his career.

Watters, Roy

Oral history interview with Rupert Kinnard, by Marissa Gunning and Ellen Tobias [Transcript]

Transcript. Kinnard discusses a few different subjects that include the accident that left him a paraplegic, his experience and career in cartooning and graphic design, working for Just Out, his new venture The LifeCapsule Project, and his feelings on gay marriage.

Kinnard, Rupert, 1954-

Oral history interview with Renee LaChance, by Brontë Olson and Nicole Estey [Transcript]

Transcript. This is interview of Renee LaChance was conducted by Brontë Olson and Nicole Estey for the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest as part of their senior capstone at Portland State University. LaChance worked with the queer newspaper The Cascade Voice, first selling advertising and writing and later as the editor for a period of time before founding Just Out newspaper with Jay Brown in 1983. The interview covers her involvement in the Gay Pride Festival, AIDS and ACT-UP, and Ballot Measures 9 and 13, as well as her experiences with running Just Out, her decision to sell, and her feelings about the path of the paper after its purchase by Marty Davis in 1998. It finishes with words of wisdom offered by LaChance for both the gay community and the general public on life and changing the future.

LaChance, Renee

Oral history interview with Reverend Susan Leo, by Jae Ann Atwood and Genevieve Blaettler [Transcript]

Transcript. Leo speaks of her experiences as an out lesbian pastor in the United Church of Christ; her experiences in Nicaragua during the 1980s that led to her decision to attend a Presbyterian seminary; homophobia within the church; and social justice & activism. She also addresses the difficulty her mother had in accepting Leo's lesbianism.

Leo, Susan, 1951-

Oral history interview with Ed Segel, by Pablo Guzman and Greg Nicosia [Transcript]

Transcript. Segel, a history professor at Reed College, discusses his knowledge of some of the local Portland non-profit organizations including Basic Rights Oregon (BRO), Love Makes A Family, Right to Pride, and Portland Town Council. Segel also discusses his experience of the AIDS epidemic, and his seeing a therapist during the early 1970s in order to come to terms with his homosexuality.

Segel, Edward B.