Tillotson, Joan, 1927-

Logue, Lynnsy Lee, 1939-

Charlotte, North Carolina

J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections & University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

2016-06-19

1 audio file (46:32) : digital, MP3

sound recording-nonmusical

spoken word

eng

Joan Tillotson was a 89-year-old woman at the time of interview, which took place in her home in Greensboro, North Carolina. She was born in Fort Edward, New York in 1927. She was educated at State University of New York at Cortland, and she earned her doctorate at the University of Iowa at Iowa City. She was employed as a physical education teacher and as a professor at UNC Charlotte.

Joan Tillotson recounts her life as a lesbian, her experiences with relationships, and her career as physical education teacher in New York and as a professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She discusses her formative years in New York, noting how she felt "different" from her peers, her emerging realization of her sexual orientation, her experience dating women, and the difficulties she encountered as a younger lesbian in finding satisfying relationships. Ms. Tillotson briefly talks about her involvement in the Charlotte Women's Center, where she met other lesbians, some of whom were married to men, and some who she describes as strident feminists. She also notes that she took part in a lesbian play at UNC Charlotte, but that the university was not embracing of sexual diversity until the 1990s. In addition Ms. Tillotson reminisces about being a part of a Charlotte group called Wonderful Women, a social group of mixed lesbian and heterosexual women who got together to socialize and camp in the mountains. She concludes the interview reflecting on her experience of aging, her continued interest in physical activities, and her desire to go skydiving again on her ninetieth birthday.

MP3 access copy created on ingest from WAV preservation master. Interview originally recorded on a Zoom H5 Handy Recorder with XY modular mic.

College teachers
Physical education teachers

Tillotson, Joan, 1927-

University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Old Lesbians Organizing for Change
Charlotte Women’s Center
Wonderful Women (Charlotte, N.C.)

Physical education teachers
Women physical education teachers
Lesbians
Lesbian college students
Gay community
Lesbian relationships
Aging

New York (State)--Plattsburgh
North Carolina--Charlotte
North Carolina--Greensboro

Interviews
Oral histories

1940-2020

Charlotte LGBTQ+ oral histories

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audio/mpeg

QH-TI0024