1125 Pine Street
Boulder, CO 80302
303-441-3110
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1
Call Number
OH1542
Date
2008
Description
In the first part of this interview, Jean Hodges describes social justice causes in which she has been active over the years and her long-time passion for and involvement with theater, both through the Nomad Theater company, the United Methodist Church, and as a teacher at Boulder High School. She also talks about the decision of one of her sons to come out as being gay, how she has shown support for him, and how she worked to support others, individually and through PFLAG. She is joined by her husband, Jack, as they discuss their involvement with the First United Methodist Church from 1960 through 2008, including their approach to teaching Sunday School, using drama in the church, and the impact of dealing with the issue of homosexuality on the church organization.
2
Call Number
OH1571-V
Date
2009
Description
Richard Geesaman talks about his love of Boulder, where he has lived since the 1950s. He talks about his work as a physician in private practice and for IBM, the creation of the Boulder County Department of Health, and his service as a council person on the Boulder City Council. He discusses the political atmosphere for the city council during the 1970s, including its conservative/liberal mix, the gay rights ordinance passed by the city council during that time, the collegiality of the council members, and the city manager form of government. He also talks about the problem of overly large houses being built in Boulder at the time of this interview.
3
Call Number
OH1582-V
Date
2009
Description
Helen Winsted was born in South Dakota in 1914, grew up in a strict religious farming family, and after several moves, arrived in Boulder in 1963. She has been a member of the First United Methodist Church since coming to Boulder, and was involved in creating, helping to guide, or participating in many of its programs, including the Love in Action program, United Methodist Women, and BUMMP (Boulder United Methodist Mission Partners). She describes these programs and some of their accomplishments, discusses one of the central philosophical issues with which the church dealt - the issue of gay people in the ministry - and talks about the importance of church outreach work to help make the world a better place.
4
Call Number
OH1919
Date
2014
Description
Candy Hyatt (previously Candy Thompson), a long-time Boulder Valley School District teacher and administrator, talks about her evolution within the school district from reading teacher to principal. She and her former husband moved to Boulder in the early 1970s. After working as a special Ed teacher at Arvada High School, she moved to Boulder where she worked as a reading teacher, and later a health teacher, at Southern Hills Junior High School. She was part of the Alternative Classroom Experience and Assistance in Developing Skills programs, and in the late '80s she headed up the Substance Abuse Prevention program for the district and became an active LGBTQ ally, as well as a staunch proponent of suicide prevention training. Later, she became the assistant principal of Mapleton Elementary School, and then principal of Baseline Middle School. After working for McREL, a research-based, educational non-profit consulting company, she became principal in the North Denver Mapleton School District. She speaks passionately about how her values of supporting inclusion, social justice, honesty, and student mental health have guided her work in education.
5
Call Number
OH2028
Date
2015
Contents
single recording 65 minutes, 38 seconds
Description
Clela Rorex, as Boulder County Clerk in 1975, issued the first same-sex marriage license in the United States after the Boulder City Council passed an early ordinance prohibiting discrimination against gay people in 1974. A life-long advocate for equal rights for women and LGBTQ persons, she retells the story of the actions she took in 1975, which included issuing six same-sex marriage licenses—and famously NOT issuing a marriage license to a man who, as a joke, asked her to grant a license for him to marry his horse—and places them in the context of the attitudes and reactions to the equal protection movements during that time. She also tells about the modernization of the County Clerk’s office and innovations that were implemented. She describes the continuation of her fight for marriage equality after her retirement from her position as County Clerk and details later work she did in public administration and legal administration, including work for the Native American Rights Fund in Boulder.