Oral History Interview with Christine Frazer: Video, Eugene Lesbian Oral History Project

Title: Oral History Interview with Christine Frazer: Video, Eugene Lesbian Oral History Project
LC Subject: Lesbianism Lesbian community
Local Collection ID: Coll 520
Repository: University of Oregon. Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Interviewee: Frazer, Christine
Interviewer: Long, Linda, 1956- Raiskin, Judith L.
Description: The Eugene Lesbian Oral History Project collection consists of interviews of 83 people for the Eugene Lesbian Oral History Project, conducted by Professor Judith Raiskin and Curator Linda Long at the University of Oregon starting in the summer of 2018.
Abstract: Christine was born in June 1949 in San Francisco. Her father was in the Air Force, stationed at Hamilton Air Force Base in Marin County. She grew up in the country, but in military housing. She travelled to Japan with her father and family twice, in 1955 and 1962. She was aware of feeling sexually different, and attracted to girls, when she was six years old. She discusses her lesbian identity. When they returned to the States, she and her brother became hippies and became a part of the counterculture. They decided to go “back to the land,” away from the establishment and to become farmers. They moved to Santa Fe and spent three years out there. She describes the communal life as heterosexist. Access to adequate water was a critical and unsolvable issue for them in the Southwest, so Christine and her boyfriend got married and moved north to Oregon in September 1970. They rented a farm in Dexter for $50 a month. Christine had a baby in 1971, and her husband, Jasper, died of Lymphoma shortly thereafter. She farmed with a lover in Williams, Oregon. She discusses the lesbian lands in southern Oregon. Later, she worked at Starflower Natural Foods & Botanicals. With her social security survivor benefits money, Christine put herself through automotive school. She then worked at the automotive repair shop, Country VW, in Eugene for fourteen years. She talks about the recession of the early 1980s, and the social life and customs in the Eugene lesbian community. She describes the “Energy Bank” that was an exchange of services between people with various skills. She also describes the “Insurance Trust,” which provided medical insurance at a better rate. Christine joined Soromundi Lesbian Chorus of Eugene when it started. She talks about other work after she shut down Country VW. Her last job was with Symantec. Christine concludes her interview by talking about the importance of community.
Subject: Aging; Amazon Kung Fu; Automobile repair; Children’s house; Collectives; Communal living; Cooperatives; Cormier, Margaret; Cormier, Thomas; Counterculture; Country VW; Despain, Robert; Displaced workers; Drug use; Emerald People’s Food Cooperative; Energy Bank; Eugene School District 4J; Farming; Feminist bookstores; Glass, Debbie; Glass, Charlie; Hippies; Homophobia in schools; Jackrabbit Press; Lane Community College (Eugene, Or.); Lefton, Enid; Lesbian identity; Lesbian mothers -- United States; Lesbian separatism – Oregon; Mama’s Home Fried Truck Stop (restaurant); Morrigan, Kendra; Mother Kali’s Books; Non-Monogamy; OWL Farm; Parenting; School choice – social aspects; Serial monogamy; Vaden, Paula Jo; Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Protest movements -- United States; Whiteaker (Eugene, Or.); Women’s Press; Zoo Zoo’s (restaurant)
Location: University of Oregon >> Lane County >> Oregon >> United States
Date: 2018-09-04
Identifier: Coll520_do020
Rights: In Copyright
Dc Rights Holder: University of Oregon Libraries
Local Collection Name: Eugene Lesbian Oral History Project
Type: Moving Image
Format: video/mp4
Set: Eugene Lesbian Oral History Project
Institution: University of Oregon