An Interview with Laura May Abraham Booker
Laura May Abraham Booker – Section from Olympia: Voices By Stephen Charak We encourage readers to contact us with comments and corrections. Disclaimer
Olywa Days of Change
Making Hay While the Sun Shines – By Joe Tougas
Cold Comfort Farm took the “Farm” in its name seriously. We thought of ourselves on the model of agricultural co-ops. We wanted to be independent, creative, revolutionary. We were pretty smug about our agrarian accomplishments. Although our knowledge of small-scale farms was spotty and romanticized (not to mention borderline illegal) we were proud of our worn-out overalls and home-grown strawberries and broccoli.
Ela Alvy House – By Daniel Farber
Over the subsequent year our connections flowed and ebbed. Living down the hall for a quarter or two, meals and conversations that went into the night were random and delightful. We stayed in touch with some folks more than others, but a year later when some of us decided to leave the dorms, five agreed to rent a house on Sherman Street, in Olympia’s Westside.
Of Eco-Terrorists and Homos–Biography of a Photo – By Anna Schlecht
VIGNETTES – Few pictures captured the rift between local conservatives and the hippie invasion attracted by Evergreen more than a photo taken by Felicity Scott Hutsell in 1987.
Blue Heron Bakery – By Margie Schubert
Blue Heron Bakery was founded in 1977 by Greg Reinemer, Carmela Courtney, Doug Martin, Martha Wolfe, and Terry Taylor. Harry and I moved to Olympia with our one-year-old daughter, Delphine, to cover for Terry for a month. It turned into 10 years. We rented a grounded houseboat across the street from the bakery and shared one position, deciding daily who was working at the Bakery and who was staying home with Delphine.
One Moment of Successful Activism – Ramona Bennett
I was elected to Puyallup Council in 1968. The BIA continued to recognize the prior council for a long time. Our government and members were unrecognized, unprotected, and unserved. We had done the armed fishing camp which eventually [resulted in] the Boldt Decision. I was now ready to push for services.
The Null Set Remembered – By Pat Holm
The Null Set Remembered By Pat Holm We encourage readers to contact us with comments and corrections. Disclaimer
Progressive Changes at Lincoln Elementary Influenced the Community – By Steven Kant
In 1984, alternative-thinking parents worked with the school district to create an elementary options program, and in 1995, the program was moved to Lincoln School and renamed Lincoln Options. The alternative programs were expanded in later years to another elementary school and two middle schools. The influence of these programs was also felt in many other schools.
Recollections on the Founding of the Gay Resource Center – By Don Orr Martin
The first phone call I took (that wasn’t a crank call) was from a lesbian in Lacey. It was 1973 and I was the founder and sole staff person answering the phone at the Gay Resource Center, a new student group at Evergreen. She and her partner had both been divorced from men, and between them they had five kids living in a double wide trailer. She wanted to know if I could offer them any help regarding child custody issues.
Don’t Cry for Me Miami – 1978 – By Don Orr Martin
Anita Bryant was an also-ran Miss America contestant in 1959 (Miss Oklahoma) and a christian pop singer who became a spokesperson for the lucrative Florida citrus industry. She popularized their slogans. “A day without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.”
Anita was also a rabid homophobe and a lightning rod in the thunderhead of anti-LGBT politics of the late 1970s. Anita Bryant was a piece of work.