The 1960s through the 1990s was a period in history well known for profound social transformations. However, important queer history often gets lost in the mix, a lack of representation that can be connected to the practices of systemic homophobia and heteronormativity. 
For instance, throughout those four decades, Eugene became a hub for the lesbian community that was cultivated through cross culture migration that first took place over 60 years ago. People rushed to the city in search of a safe environment and affordable housing. 

In remembrance of this historical mark in time, UO’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History opened a new exhibit titled “The Eugene Lesbian History Project” on Jan. 28 that will run through the end of 2023. Judith Raiskin, a UO professor of women’s, gender and sexuality studies, and Linda Long, a UO curator of manuscripts, are both responsible for bringing this project to fruition, having worked as project directors since summer 2018.

“Going into this project, we weren’t clued into how important this was to the women and we’re affirming how important it is,” Long told Eugene Weekly in 2018. “We’re talking to people who identified as lesbians and are not lesbians now; we’re hoping that people who were at that time in those years are hoping to share that history with us.”

Their goal of storytelling became a success through a collection of video interviews, transcripts, photographs, letters and journals. It serves to highlight the stories of 83 lesbian women who lived in Eugene during the migration period and the fervor surrounding Oregon’s anti-gay Measure 9 in 1992, which pushed to recognize homosexuality as wrong and unnatural. The project continues to grow as more lesbian women in town share their life stories.
This multi-dimensional collection throws viewers back to a time that profoundly influenced the political and social landscape of the city. Lesbians, many of whom were also self-identified feminists who took part in anti-war and civil rights protests during the 60’s, moved to the “Emerald Ccity” in hopes of creating a sense of community in rural and relatively cheap Eugene. 

This looked a lot like establishing themselves in male-dominated spaces such as city and state government and forestry. The heart of the community grew through art and cultural collectives. “We made a home in Eugene for gay people,”one narrator said.
With a digital and in-person exhibit and documents available to the public in the Special Collections and University Archives, this project houses a serious dedication to accessibility for the entire Eugene community.

”I hope that this website and the Outliers and Outlaws digital exhibit does justice to this history by curating the collection and suggesting fruitful approaches for scholars, researchers, students, high school and college teachers and queer young people who are curious about their cultural history,” Raiskin said. “Envisioning a future depends on knowing the past.”

Queer representation is vital for many reasons with collectivity being one. Throughout the Eugene Lesbian Oral History Project, narrators had the chance to look back on decades filled with meaningful social change through conversations and mementos alongside old comrades, but it doesn’t stop there. These narrators actively made history at the same age many of those who occupy campus are now. College students are able to learn from the past, be proud and think about what can be done to continue the revolution of inclusivity. 

“I think it’s really important to have this exhibit in this space because sometimes digital information gets lost in the mix, but here are the physical lives and stories of important people that can be experienced by everyone,” Jaiden Ceifertbates, a fifth-year UO student, said.