Revisiting the Archive: Episode 4: Shirley Willer

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the Archive

Making Gay History

Sexuality, Personal Journals, Health & Fitness, History, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 11 April 2020

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

“I’ve spent a large percent of my life being angry.” That was Shirley Willer, reflecting on the death of a close friend and fellow nurse who in 1947 received fatally inadequate hospital care because he was gay. Shirley channeled her anger into activism in the early homophile movement—let’s listen to her story as we face the challenge of what to do with our own anger during this pandemic that has upended our lives. Visit our season two episode webpage for background information, archival photos, and other resources. For exclusive Making Gay History bonus content, join our ⁠Patreon community⁠. ——— To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I history
0:02.0	Eric here
0:03.0	A few months ago we launched Making Gay History's Patreon channel
0:06.0	a place where we're sharing new video interviews
0:09.0	Never Before Heard Clips from my archive
0:11.0	that didn't make it into the episodes and more.
0:14.0	If you're not a member of our Patreon community yet, I hope you'll join today.
0:18.4	Just $5 a month gets you access to these Making Gay History extras, and you'll support us as we work to bring LGBTQ history to life
0:26.1	through the voices of the people who lived it.
0:28.8	Find out more at Patreon.com slash Making Gay History. or go to making gay history
0:34.0	and click on the link in our home page banner and thank you so much.
0:38.0	I'm Eric Marcus and this is Making Gay History.
0:44.0	I'm recording this fourth episode in our revisiting.
0:50.0	I'm recording this fourth episode in our revisiting the archive series on Thursday, April 8th,
0:59.6	four weeks to the day since my partner Barney and I started sheltering in place.
1:05.0	And just a few days since the coronavirus likely claimed the life of a 40-year-old next-door
1:09.9	neighbor.
1:11.9	From what I've been reading, the wave of infections here in New York City
1:15.1	seems to be cresting just as the threat mounts in other parts of the country.
1:19.5	In an almost daily ritual now, I talk with my brother after he gets off his shift at the hospital where he works, about five hours south of New York City.
1:30.0	He's an emergency room administrator.
1:33.0	Night before last, we had a long anguish conversation about how he and his coworkers aren't getting the proper gear they need to protect themselves from getting sick.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Making Gay History, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Making Gay History and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.