Lisa Vecoli and Jhaleh Akhavan
Recorded
September 13, 2017
Archived
September 13, 2017
47:54 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
dda002653
Description
Jhaleh Akhavan (31) interviews her new friend Lisa Vecoli (55) about her work managing The Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies and her personal connection to the work.Subject Log / Time Code
LV is “an army of one” managing the collection, but “it’s like Christmas everyday.”
LV tells JA about “growing up in the stacks” because her father managed the immigration collection at UMN.
LV never imagined she’d do similar work to her father but “it’s really been a magical period in my life.”
LV recalls the first time she heard the term “Lesbian” and feeling humiliated because it was used as the punchline to a joke
LV recalls meeting very few lesbian women growing up until her first girlfriend; she kept a list of lesbian women until she reached 100 names, then stopped keeping count.
LV on coming out: “The isolation was complete and profound.”
LV on the legacy of people who worked hard and even died to make the world a better place for LGBTQ people: she feels both happy and frustrated that young people can take this for granted.
Participants
- Lisa Vecoli
- Jhaleh Akhavan