Oral History with Katherine Allen, October 23, 2014 (Ms2015-007)

Oral History with Katherine Allen, October 23, 2014 (Ms2015-007)

Katherine Allen is a professor of Human Development at Virginia Tech. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, she completed studies at the University of Connecticut and Syracuse University before joining the Virginia Tech faculty in 1989. Allen came to Tech as one of the first ‘out’ lesbians and following her arrival, she became a vocal activist for LGBTQ rights both within the University and throughout the state of Virginia. Her research has focused on children of LGBTQ families, including the effects of relationship dissolution and legal custody rights. In the 1990s, Allen raised two children in a lesbian relationship and founded a lesbian mothers group with her partner. Her family became a ‘poster family’ for LGBTQ community, both locally and nationally, before she separated from her partner in the early 2000s. Allen continues to fight for legal protections and employee benefits for LGBTQ families at Virginia Tech and around the world.

In her oral history, Katherine Allen discusses her activism, her relationships and personal identity, her experiences as part of a ‘lesbian poster family’ and as an ‘out’ faculty member at Virginia Tech.

Ms2015-007_VTLGBTQ_AllenKatherine

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following
information: Virginia Tech LGBTQ Oral History Collection, Ms2015-007,
Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Katherine Allen

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