Oral History Interview with Karen McPherson: Video, Eugene Lesbian Oral History Project
- Title
- Oral History Interview with Karen McPherson: 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
- McPherson, Karen
- 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
- Karen was born in 1950 and grew up in the east coast. She protested the Vietnam War and participated in Civil Rights protests in high school. She went to Reed College as a freshman in 1967, but later dropped out. Karen and her friend Garrick became a couple and later they had a daughter. Garrick’s parents, Judith Malina and Julian Beck, were founders of The Living Theatre. Together, Karen and Garrick moved to Drain, Oregon, to buy and establish an eighty-acre hippy commune called “Rainbow Farm.” There was a focus on spirituality. Karen later moved to Eugene, after which she completed her degree and moved on to graduate school. At this time, she met lesbians and became involved with women. She graduated from Yale University with a doctorate. Later, Karen taught at Princeton University and became a professor of French at the University of Oregon, where she taught for many years. She concludes her interview by discussing aging issues.
- Subject
- African Americans -- Civil rights -- United States; Bars (Drinking establishments) -- Oregon – Eugene; Communal living – Oregon; Counterculture; Drug use; Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD); Reed College; Riviera Room; San Francisco (Calif.); Soromundi Lesbian Chorus of Eugene; Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Protest movements -- United States.
- Location
- University of Oregon >> Lane County >> Oregon >> United States
- Date
- 2018-08-30
- Identifier
- Coll520_do033
- 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
