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The Gayest Generation Ep. 3 - Bob Enszer and Rick Farrand
Welcome to The Gayest Generation, where we hear LGBTQ Elders speak for themselves. Every episode, we sit down with a different member of the LGBTQ community who laid the foundation for the freedoms we have today. Stories—their stories—make noise where there is silence and that silence has lived for far too long. It is time we let their voices fill the room.
In this episode, we sit down with Bob Enszer and Rick Farrand. We’ll hear about what it is like to be a closeted parent raising a lesbian child, the magic of falling in love later in life, and how small town communities came together to support those suffering with HIV/AIDS. Due to adult situations and language, viewer discretion is advised. This is the Gayest Generation.
Special thanks to Bob and Rick, as well as everyone who makes The Gayest Generation a reality.
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The Gayest Generation Ep. 2 - Randy Hasso
Welcome to The Gayest Generation, where we hear LGBTQ Elders speak for themselves. Every episode, we sit down with a different member of the LGBTQ community who laid the foundation for the freedoms we have today. Stories—their stories—make noise where there is silence and that silence has lived for far too long. It is time we let their voices fill the room.
In this episode, we speak with Randy Hasso. He shares his experiences in Tunisia as a member of the Peace Corps, growing up on a pickle farm, and what it was like to care for AIDS patients in small town America during a time where even the President wouldn’t say the word AIDS publicly. Due to adult language and situations, viewer discretion is advised. This is the Gayest Generation.
This episode features the following music:
Prospects by Chris Juergenson
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The Gayest Generation Ep. 1 - Pat Buerkel
Welcome to The Gayest Generation, where hear LGBTQ elders speak for themselves. Every episode, we sit down with a different member of the LGBTQ community who laid the foundation for the freedoms we have today. Stories—their stories—make noise where silence has lived for far too long. What if who we call The Greatest Generation, also happens to be the gayest?
In this episode, we speak with Pat Buerkel. She shares her experiences working on the line at GM in the 70’s, her lifelong friendship with a transgender trailblazer, and crossing “going to jail” off her bucket list. Viewer discretion, due to adult language and situations, is advised. This is The Gayest Generation.
This episode features the following music:
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AADL Productions Podcast: Lola Jones and Carol Gibson
Lola Jones and Carol Gibson are well-known to anyone familiar with Ann Arbor history. Over the past 30 years they have sought out and documented the history of the African American experience in Ann Arbor through a series of projects under the moniker Another Ann Arbor; it is largely through their work that the Ann Arbor African American story is a part of our shared community identity. Lola and Carol stopped by the library to talk with us one day about the work they have done over the years and where they are headed next. They shared with us some of the interesting people and events they have learned about and brought to the community in their television program, their documentaries, and their book. You can now watch one of their documentaries online at aadl.org in our video collection. A Woman's Town was produced in 1991 and tells the story of Ann Arbor through the voices of prominent African American women.
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Roots Oral History Testimonies of Religious Community Bonds in Washtenaw County: Njoki Sandra Kamuyu
Njoki Sandra Kamuyu grew up in the Willow Run Historic Village and has been a member of Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church since age twelve. Kamuyu moved to Kenya with her husband in 1972 and gave birth to her three children there before returning to Michigan in 1989 where she resumed her Brown Chapel membership and has remained involved ever since. Over a lifetime of church involvement, Kamuyu has watched the community evolve and continues to assist in its growth by educating children as a Sunday school teacher.
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Roots Oral History Testimonies of Religious Community Bonds in Washtenaw County: Matthew Schumann
Dr. Matthew Schumann is the Felicity Foundation Chaplain at the University of Michigan, where he serves as the campus imam. Dr. Schumann became Muslim in 2009 and has followed his dedication to Islam from Qatar to Vancouver, a position as a bus driver in Salt Lake City, and in 2021 to Ann Arbor. He works tirelessly to cultivate a vibrant and dedicated Muslim student community at UM through daily prayer services and connecting personally with students.
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Roots Oral History Testimonies of Religious Community Bonds in Washtenaw County: Jesse Bernstein
Jesse Aaron Bernstein has been a member of the Temple Beth Emeth community since he arrived in Ann Arbor in 1970 to pursue a Masters of Social Work at the University of Michigan. He has served on the Temple board and has been an active participant in the development of the Jewish community in Ann Arbor over the past 50 years.
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Roots Oral History Testimonies of Religious Community Bonds in Washtenaw County: Emily Knickelbein
Emily Knickelbein is a member of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Ann Arbor, where she
completed her conversion to Catholicism in November of 2022. She is a lifelong Washtenaw County resident and was raised in the Lutheran tradition as one of eight siblings. Her commitment to Catholicism has led her to a supportive and like-minded faith community at St. Thomas where she regularly attends mass and works as a liturgy assistant.
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Legacies Project Oral History: Lois Zimmerman
Lois (née Milton) Zimmerman was born in 1923 near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She graduated from high school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and earned a BA degree from Lesley College, a teacher training college in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During her time in Cambridge, she met her husband who was training to become a chaplain in the army. Their oldest child Donnie died of polio at age seven; they had four other children. She was a kindergarten teacher for many years, including during the era of school desegregation in Indianapolis, Indiana. She also enjoyed leading outdoor educational programming.
Lois Zimmerman was interviewed by students from Skyline High School in Ann Arbor as part of the Legacies Project.
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Legacies Project Oral History: Chuck Warpehoski
Chuck Warpehoski was born in 1978 and graduated from Grinnell College with a BA in sociology. He worked in Washington D.C. for the Nicaragua Network and Latin America Solidarity Coalition before moving to Ann Arbor in 2003. He directed the Ann Arbor nonprofit organization Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice (ICPJ) for sixteen years, focusing on issues such as nuclear disarmament and affordable housing. He also served on the Ann Arbor City Council from 2012 to 2018. He and his wife Nancy Shore have two children.
Chuck Warpehoski was interviewed by students from Skyline High School in Ann Arbor in 2015 as part of the Legacies Project.