Body

Then and now image of 15 lesbian individuals and couples with photos from when they were young and now, tiled around a quote. Quote text reads: Were there specific joys about being a part of a lesbian community? Linda Long. We were free. Once you're an outlaw, you don't have to follow the rules.

Click here to view the full digital exhibit from the University of Oregon.

Click here to view the museum exhibit online. 

Physical exhibit on view through February 18, 2024.

Come discover stories about the Eugene lesbian community from the women who created and sustained it.

Everyone is welcome!

In the 1960s – 1990s, hundreds of young women who identified as lesbians came to Eugene. They founded organizations central to the city and provided leadership for community service agencies. They created lesbian magazines, photographs, music, films, dance performances, theater, and art. They influenced Oregon's political landscape and contributed to the larger LGBTQ movement.

The exhibit is a collaboration between the museum, the University of Oregon Libraries Special Collections, and the College of Arts and Sciences. Between 2018 and 2019, Judith Raiskin, associate professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the university, and Linda Long, Curator of Manuscripts, began interviewing dozens of people in what would eventually be the Eugene Lesbian Oral History Project and digital exhibit. The museum took that background and brought the exhibit into physical space.

 

The museum exhibit will be on view at the museum through February 18, 2024 and online in perpetuity.