Oral History Commons^™

Girls’ Education And Child Marriage In Central Africa | Insights From Qualitative Fieldwork Part I: The Democratic Republic Of Congo, Geneviève Bagamboula Mayamona, Jean-Christophe Boungou Bazika, Quentin Wodon

Journal of Global Catholicism

Child marriage is defined as a formal or informal union before the age of 18. As in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of child marriage remains high in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in part because educational attainment for girls is too low. Based on qualitative fieldwork, this article looks at communities’ perceptions of child marriage and girls’ education and their suggestions for programs and policies that could improve outcomes for girls. The article also discusses potential implications for Catholic and other faith-based schools, as well as faith leaders.

Overview & Acknowledgments, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

Bibliography, Christy L. Spurlock

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Bibliography of publications by Christy Spurlock.

Warnock, Kyle, Jen Butler, Rachel Shanks

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Kyle Warnock is a young queer person living in southern Maine whose non-profit, QueerlyME, has taken off to provide resources for the queer community in Maine. Starting as a photo documentary, QueerlyME is that, a resource directory and an event planning organization that focuses on queer activities outside of the traditional queer nightlife scene. Warnock talks about his experience growing up in South Dakota, coming out and the impacts of that. He also talks about his passion for connecting queer people with QueerlyME and the impact the organization has had on his life and the lives of many queer Mainers. …

Geist, Dale, Abby Milewski

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Ever since his coming out in a Facebook post, Dale Geist has championed queer representation in one of the most conservative music genres. Country. He is the founder of the online blog called Country Queer, where his goal is to shine a light on LGBTQ+ country and Americana music artists. He talks about influential artists such as Bob Dylan, The Indigo Girls, Elton John, Brandie Carlile, and David Bowie. In this 50-minute interview, Geist covers many stories from his life, including discovering his sexuality, the importance of media representation, David Bowie’s positive influence on the bisexual community, and the cultural …

Mcconnell, Mickey, Christina Miner

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Mickey is a graduate student at USM studying Social Work and is an Adult Learning Coach at USM. She is 31 years old and is bi-sexual. Mickey grew up in Brunswick, Maine and her mom raised her and her two sisters. She has been in a seven year relationship with her partner David. She came out about 14 years old, however, it was not well received by her mother, and Mickey remained quiet about it for several years until more recently. Her mother has relaxed more about it, is more accepting and wants her to be happy. As a result …

Lo, Q, Rheros Iliad Kagoni

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Q Lo is a 45 year old transgender man, the son of two Chinese immigrants who grew up in New York. Q discusses growing up as a queer person of color, how his gender and sexual identity was impacted by the lack of representation he saw around him, how his upbringing in Chinatown influenced his view of the world, and how his immigrant parents influenced his relationship with school, work and creativity. Q talks about attending college, dropping out of college, and his experiences going to MECA in Portland Maine while grappling with the classism and privilege he was experiencing …

Marine, Benn, Andrea Carpenter

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Benn is a 37-year-old trans man living in Maine. He identifies as being pansexual because he feels that he falls in love with personalities regardless of the person’s gender. He grew up with his family in rural southern Maine. He describes feeling that he was different than others from a young age and that, as he describes it, God made a mistake and he was supposed to be a boy. Yet he pushed those feeling under the rug for a long time. He first came out as gay, and much later he came out as trans in his mid-20s, and …

Farnsworth, Susan, Larisa Filippov

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Susan Farnsworth is a 75 year old lesbian who has lived in Maine for over 50 years. She currently resides in Hallowell, ME, but has lived all over Maine and other places in New England. Farnsworth is an attorney and has her own law practice where she helps a variety of clients with their legal problems. She realized she was a lesbian while she was in law school during her marriage to a man. Farnsworth attended Bates College for her undergraduate degree before going to the University of Maine School of Law in Portland. The multiple political organizations she has …

Blanchard, Mike, Micaiah Wert

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Mike Blanchard is a 60 year old gay man from Westbrook Maine. He has struggled as an alcoholic due to repressing his queer identity, but has been sober for 33 years (since 1989). Through addiction recovery he was able to come out as gay in 1992. After years of struggling with alcohol and rough relationships, Mike met his husband at Blackstones in Portland, and describes their relationship as, “nothing I ever chased and everything I could have hoped for.” Mike worked for a long time in the field of recreation, but left after feeling as though he could not be …

Rand, Erica - 2022 Follow Up, Sofia Oliveri

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Erica Rand is a professor of Arts and Visual Culture at Bates College, an adult figure skater, author and activist. This is a follow-up interview to her previous interview for Querying the Past in 2017. Erica Rand was heavily involved with ACT- UP Portland and more specifically the branch of ACT UP called: Pissed Off Dyke Cell and Women’s Health Action Crew. But more recently she has been involved with a new form of activism through sports and writing. At Bates, she is pushing the importance of trans-inclusion policies in sports and even testing the gender limitations put in place …

Brownlee, Margaret, Gretchen Muehle, Shelice Wilson

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Margaret Brownlee is a multi-racial/Afro-Latina Lipstick Lesbian who was born and spent most of her life residing in Maine. Margaret was 16 when she came out and is now married to a woman and has a daughter. Margaret attended multiple universities–including Wells College, Lesley University, and the University of New England–as a first generation college student in her family with the goal of becoming a dancer. Margaret is currently a Burlesque dancer and instructor and is also employed with the Maine Department of Education. She has been involved in political activism and a number of organizations based in Maine–including Portland …

Wanderer, Nancy, Mary Wallace

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Nancy Wanderer is a professor at the University of Maine School of Law and was also the first Director of the Legal Writing Program at Maine Law. She received a B.A from Wellesley College, and M.A. from George Washington University, and a J.D. from University of Maine School of Law. Nancy Wanderer has dedicated her life to women’s rights and protecting and fighting for the rights of other minorities as well. Since growing up in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, Wanderer has always been drawn to education and Academia.

She was married to her ex-husband during her Junior year at Wellesley in …

Chann, Marpheen, Kendall Garland, Meghan Horner

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Marpheen Chann is a Cambodian, Asian-American, gay man living in Portland, Maine. He was born in California to an immigrant mother and later moved to Maine, then adopted by a white, Evangelical family. He spent his childhood in the church and would later attend Valley Forge Christian College. Then later transferring to USM to earn a Bachelor’s in Political Science and later attended Maine Law. Chann participates in advocacy work with organizations, such as the Equality Community Center and is the president of Khmer Maine. He currently works for the Good Shepard Food Bank as their Community Impact Manager.

Please …

Gifford, Dan, Erin Schott, Hailey Kamenides

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Dan Gifford is a gay white man who grew up in Arkansas, and eventually moved to Maine with his partner. Dan is now an employee at the Portland Museum of Art, where he enjoys his job and being close to art. Dan has always known he was gay, yet to some in Arkansas this was viewed in a negative light or simply swept under the rug. Dan explains that the first time he visited Maine he felt “home”, and enjoys that he can be his true authentic self here, without the scrutiny that he experienced in the South. Dan also …

Hine, Rook, Ty Bolduc

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Rook Hine is a 47-year-old transfemme non-binary person from Connecticut. In this interview, Hine describe their life experiences, from challenges in her household, zir benefits and complications within education, and finding their identity as ze grew up. They discuss masking, performing arts as an outlet for gender expression, activism in college and beyond. Ze also mentions developing their non-binary identity, use of the term metagender, polyamory, and internalized transphobia, as well as adventures around the country - attending Sarah Lawrence College in New York, spending time in New Orleans as a tarot card reader, stripper, and phone sex operator after …

Labbe, Roland, Wendy Chapkis

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Roland Labbe discusses growing up in Maine in Millinocket, Winterport, and Lewiston, before moving to Worcester, MA at 14 with an older lover. He also talks about his time as a young man in New York City; that made him realize that Portland needed a gay bar which he opened in 1967: “Roland’s Tavern” on Forest Ave. He shares stories about challenges he faced in opening Portland’s first gay bar, including licensing struggles with the city of Portland and hostility from police and some of the public. He discusses his tremendously supportive family, with his mother and siblings often working …

Macnaughton, Daniel, Wendy Chapkis

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Dan MacNaughton was born in 1955 in Bangor, Maine, and raised in Hampden, Maine with his mother, father, and older brother. He came out as gay in high school with supportive teachers and classmates who were either supportive or indifferent. However, he had deeply internalized homophobic attitudes and believed that being gay meant he had very limited employment options. In college at the University of Maine Orono, MacNaughton became active in the newly formed Wilde Stein student group where he became the first Vice-Chair of the club, met Sturgis Haskins, and became involved in educational efforts on campus. He also …

We4: Leisure Quotes, Lance Gibbs Phd

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Welcome to the fourth exhibit in the series of “We Exist”. In this section we have selected quotes that represent and explain how Maine’s Black residents’ create the processes behind their engagement in particular leisure activities. The quotes also highlight the particular types of leisure activities that Maine’s Black residents suggest that they are involved in. The quotes are taken from transcripts of the oral history project "'Home Is Where I Make It': African American Community and Activism in Greater Portland, Maine”. The interview subjects are all native to Maine or are longtime residents of Maine. The original intent of …

Full Issue

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

The Malleability Of Home: A Genealogy Of Clark University's English House, Christina Rose Walcott, Justin Shaw

English

This essay details the history of the land and structures that occupy the property currently located at the corner of Hawthorne and Woodland Streets in Worcester, Mass. Covering over 300 years, it begins with the legacies of the Nipmuc and the early English colonialist settlers before moving into a discussion of Worcester's 19th Century industrialists and 20th Century acquisition by the University. The essay builds on extensive archival research using materials from both physical and digital collections such as atlases, censuses, biographies, directories, criticism, and more. To further develop the story of the English Department and its home, the essay …

The Flow Of (Re)Memory In African American And Nubian Egyptian Literature: Morrison, Oddoul, And Mukhtar, Bushra Hashem

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to define the term rememory, which Toni Morrison coins in her novel Beloved, and explore its interplay with water imagery in the novel and in two Nubian short stories, namely Haggag Oddoul’s “The River People” and Yahya Mukhtar’s “The Nile Bride.” The three narratives have core common features: they centralize water bodies as key sites of events, they depend heavily on the retelling of history and mythology, and they are told predominantly from the perspective of women. How do the writers weave rememory, history, and mythology to produce these narratives? Are they attempting to …

Cora Ann Westmoreland, Kelli Johnson

Oral Histories – NPS AACR Civil Rights In Appalachia Grant

Kelli Johnson conducting an oral history interview with Cora Westmoreland.

This oral history is part of the National Park Service African Americans Civil Rights History and Appalachia Grant Program.

Sandra Clements, Kelli Johnson

Oral Histories – NPS AACR Civil Rights In Appalachia Grant

Kelli Johnson conducting an oral history interview with Sandra Clements.

This oral history is part of the National Park Service African American Civil Rights History and Appalachia Grant Program.

Queer History In The Streets: A Walking Tour Of Portland, Maine, Megan Macgregor

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The University of Southern Maine’s Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer + Collection preserves the history of LGBTQ+ communities in Maine. The collection contains books, personal papers, photographs, and newspapers documenting the LGBTQ+ activism from 1970s to 1990s.

While three research publications have some out of the collection (one article and two thesis), no overall history about Maine’s LGBTQ+ community has been written. As a result many Mainer’s, queer and straight, know very little of the history. The instruction and outreach librarian and the staff of USM’s Special Collections wanted an opportunity to …

Anna Belle King, Kelli Johnson

Oral Histories – NPS AACR Civil Rights In Appalachia Grant

Kelli Johnson conducting an oral history interview with Anna Belle King.

This oral history is part of the National Park Service African American Civil Rights History and Appalachia Grant Program.

Nelson, Linda, Morgan Lindenschmidt

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Linda explored many topics in this interview, primarily focusing on her political activism rooted in radical lesbian seperatist feminist ideology. She grew up playing sports in Connecticut. She has been involved in a myriad of political movements, ranging from founding a Gay-Straight Alliance at her college in the 70s to being involved in the Anti-War Movement. She has extensive experience also in anti-racist and climate-related activism. She describes herself as a working-class butch woman with an interest in intersectional community organizing.

She also discusses studying in Maine before living in New York City for 16 years, where she worked at …

Interview With Jenny Cavenaugh, Jennifer Jones Cavenaugh, Wenxian Zhang

Oral Histories

Growing up in New York City, Jennifer Jones Cavenaugh earned her BA in Policy Studies from Dartmouth College in 1982, and her MFA in Dramaturgy from Brooklyn College in 1992. After receiving her PhD in Theater History and Dramatic Criticism from the University of Washington in 1995, she served as Assistant Professor of Theater at the University of Denver for three years before joining the faculty of the Louisiana State University, where she earned her tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor of Theater in 2003.

In 2005, Dr. Cavenaugh was named the Winifred Warden Endowed Chair of Theater at …

Inheritance: A Memoir, Jennifer Skoog

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

I was born and raised on a small farm in central Minnesota, the youngest of nine. Our lives centered around a dogmatic faith that banned sex education and birth control in any form. The consequences of these teachings put my life on a tragic course, and I paid dearly for my ignorance. With the help of a therapist and a deep commitment to myself, I left the faith. After I earned a college degree in my early 40s, I began to critically examine my upbringing. Through my educational journey in Black studies, I saw deeply troubling ways in which my …

An Intergenerational Photo Exploration Of Self Care Actions In Self-Identifying Strong Black Women, Vanessa Patrice Goodar

Dissertations

The current study sought to expand upon the Giscombé Superwoman Schema (2010) specifically exploring the role of vulnerability resistance and help obligation as potential barriers to changing comprehensive self-care health commitments in self-identifying Strong Black Women (SBW). The Superwoman Schema characteristics of vulnerability resistance and help obligation along with socio-economic factors of income, religious affiliation and marital status were assessed in the project using a visual-ethnography approach to Photo Voice methods and five intergenerational focus groups of SBW's born between 1946 and 2002. The collective self-care knowledge of these eighteen participants was analyzed using a participatory action research discussion framework …