How the Project Began

The project started in 2019 when Ree Robson got the idea to create an oral history project about LGBTQ+ history after going to the 2019 Creating Change Conference hosted by the National LGBTQ Taskforce. At that conference, there was a presentation from folks at Princeton University and Vassar College who had founded similar oral history projects. After consulting with several professors from the Whitman History Department, Robson visited the Whitman College and Northwest Archives to pitch the idea. Applying for a summer internship grant from the Whitman History Department, Robson was awarded the grant, providing financial support to begin the project. 

In summer 2019, Robson began research by sorting through the archives' Whitman LGBTQ Collection, a scattering of files from former staff and faculty who had been involved in past and present LGBTQ+ student groups on campus. Robson continued by contacting former staff, faculty and Whitman alumni to chat about their experiences at Whitman, building up a now extensive contact network for the project. 

Initially, thanks to Robson's own interest in the LGBTQ+ student groups, as a former LGBTQ+ Program intern, as well as the materials and contacts available, the project focused mainly on these student groups. Specifically early interviews discussed the now-inactive Coalition Against Homophobia and the current LGBTQ+ group PRISM's predecessor, GLBTQ. These initial six interviews covered the progression from a closeted campus to a campus with two distinct and busy LGBTQ+ student organizations over the period from the 1980s to the 2000s. 

In the fall semester, Robson expanded the project to cover LGBTQ+ experience at Whitman more generally, feeling that the project's inclusivity had been undermined and restricted by the initial goal of the project. In particular, since the narratives of trans* people have often been sidelined or excluded from LGBTQ+ historical projects, Robson dedicated the fall semester to recording the stories of trans* and gender non-conforming alumni. Three new interviews were conducted which continued to discuss these LGBTQ+ student groups as well as the lives of trans and gender non-conforming youth at Whitman from 2000 on. 

In the spring semester of 2020, the Whitman LGBTQ+ Oral History Project received the David Nord Award for LGBTQ+ research and planned to host a on-campus exhibit. As Robson finished up senior year, several new students were hired to help continue interviews and build a digital exhibit to host the project materials. New interviewers, Clara and Anika, worked on expanding on the boundaries of the time period covered by the project. Clara interviewed two alumni from the 2010s while Anika talked to alumni from the 1970s and 1980s. Unfortunately, closures due to COVID-19 limited what could be done for the project in 2020. The on-campus exhibit was closed and in return, this digital exhibit was expanded to be a more in-depth look at LGBTQ+ history at Whitman and share the work done by these students. 

Whitman's nondiscrimination policy has been updated to be more inclusive of LGBTQ+ students twice. In 1990, after the founding of Whitman's Gay Lesbian Association, "sexual orientation" was added. In 2001, after student and ally Brianna Testa appealed to the college administration in support of protecting trans students, "gender identity or expression" was added.