LGBTQ+ Washtenaw Oral History Project - Maggie Hostetler

Thu, 08/01/2024 - 10:00am

Maggie Hostetler was born in 1944 in Bay City, Michigan, where she grew up with four siblings. As a young adult, she worked for her parents’ newspaper, the Fremont Times-Indicator. She moved to Ann Arbor in the late 1960s to complete her undergraduate and master’s degrees at the University of Michigan, and she went on to become a social worker and a technical writer. She recalls that being an activist for LGBTQ+ rights in the 1970s was primarily about coming out to friends and family and creating community. She was a founding member of A Woman's Bookstore and a contributor to The Leaping Lesbian magazine. She and her partner Lorri Sipes have been together for 43 years, and married for 10 years. They enjoy many shared activities including gardening, golfing, and hosting dinner parties.

View historical materials.

Black Women in the Workplace

Sat, 06/08/2024 - 6:51pm

In this video complied from dozens of interviews from the Living Oral History Project, Black women speak about their experiences working in Washtenaw County, including the various obstacles they had to face in hiring and on the job.

The Living Oral History Project is a partnership between the African American Cultural & Historical Museum of Washtenaw County and the Ann Arbor District Library, providing a permanent home for 50+ interviews with Black community members collected over the past decade.  The collection continues to grow with interviews added each year.

AACHM Oral History: Alice Brennan-Key

Thu, 06/29/2023 - 4:34pm

Alice Brennan-Key was born in Ann Arbor in 1953. Her parents met in Florida after her father immigrated from the Bahamas, and they moved to Ann Arbor in the 1940s. Brennan-Key grew up on Gott Street, next door to her current residence. She has seen the neighborhood change over the years due to gentrification. She went to Michigan State University as an undergraduate and received her master’s in social work from the University of Michigan. She spent most of her career working with developmentally disabled and mentally ill residents of Washtenaw County. She raised her daughter Khyla in Ann Arbor.

View historical materials.

AACHM Oral History: Jennifer and Hershal Brown

Mon, 09/12/2022 - 10:41am

Hershal Brown was born in 1946. He lived off and on with his parents in Gary, Indiana, but he was raised primarily by his grandparents in Ann Arbor. He remembers having many role models at Bethel AME Church. After graduating from Ann Arbor High School, Brown served in the military in Spain. He worked at Ford Motor Company in pre-prototype coordination for 31 years. He also worked and volunteered for the Ann Arbor Public Schools and the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s department. He married his longtime sweetheart Jennifer Benton in 1968 and they have two daughters, Charisse and Heather. 

View historical materials for Hershal Brown.

Jennifer Brown was born in 1948 in Ann Arbor to Charles and Laurel Benton. She recalls learning to fish with her father and attending Jones School. Her mother encouraged her to take advanced classes in high school. Brown worked in banking and bank management for the first half of her career while her children were young. Later in life she got her master’s degree in social work from the University of Michigan and became a social worker. She has been married to her husband Hershal Brown for 53 years. They have two daughters, Charisse and Heather, and three grandchildren.