Oral History Interview with Marilyn Picariello and Kathryn Hunt: Video, Eugene Lesbian Oral History Project

Title: Oral History Interview with Marilyn Picariello and Kathryn Hunt: 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: Hunt, Kathryn Picariello, Marilyn
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: Devi was born in Anchorage, Alaska in 1950. She lived in Seattle in the early 1970s where there were feminist presses. When she moved to Eugene she founded Mother Kali’s Books in 1976 with Marilyn Picariello, Ellen Greenlaw, and Barbara Bryant, with help from S. Reddick. This feminist bookstore became a fixture in Eugene for 33 years and a gathering place for the lesbian/queer community. She and Marilyn describe the late seventies in Eugene as a time marked by a flowering of a community of women artists, dancers, poets, musicians, photographers, publishers, and small business owners who supported and influenced each other. Like Mother Kali’s, many community organizations and businesses were operated as collectives and cooperatives. Devi returned to Seattle in 1984, where she co-founded two collective bookstores, It’s About Time, and Red and Black Books. She has lived with her husband since 1993 and discusses bisexuality and the experience and consequences of being in a heterosexual relationship after being with women and the mixed responses of friends, gay and straight. Marilyn: Marilyn was born in 1951 into an Italian-American family in Brooklyn. Her family was working class, with the extended family all in one apartment complex. She talks about her childhood memories. Marilyn went to parochial schools. She remembers her family as matriarchal and loving. All of Marilyn's boyfriends in high school were gay. Her family expected her to get married and have children. At age seventeen, she knew she was a lesbian and family life started to seem oppressive. Marilyn came to Eugene in the early 1970s to go to graduate school at UO, where she studied Special Education. The lesbian community was a big distraction for her. She discusses the character of the lesbian community, and the various social and cultural activities available. Many lesbians lived in the Whiteaker and River Road areas. Marilyn met Kathryn “Devi” Hunt and together they started Mother Kali’s Books. The seed money for the bookstore was Ellen Greenlaw’s inheritance of $800. Marilyn and Devi discuss the bookstore. They describe the bookstore, which was located at 11th Avenue and Lawrence Street. Marilyn also did warehouse work at Starflower Natural Foods & Botanicals in 1979. That same year, Marilyn and Devi left Mother Kali’s. In 1980, Marilyn went down to San Francisco where she worked for over ten years with AIDS nonprofits. When she returned to Eugene, she and her partner Linda started Eugene Insight Meditation Community. This involved a Twelve-Step Program and the Dharma. Marilyn and Devi end their interview by discussing aging in the community.
Subject: Amazon Kung Fu; Drug abuse; Feminist bookstores; Wallflower Order Dance Collective; American Indian Movement; Community Center for the Performing Arts (WOW Hall); Feminist bookstores; Hoedads, Inc.; Lesbian community – Oregon; Marriage equality; Mother Kali’s Books; Non-monogamy; Riviera Room; Special education; United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Location: University of Oregon >> Lane County >> Oregon >> United States
Date: 2018-08-30
Identifier: Coll520_do043
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