Oral history interview with Larry S. Copeland

Collection

Identifier: SR 11233

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Larry S. Copeland was conducted by Emily Bowen and Kenty Truong on February 17, 2011. Bowen and Truong conducted the interview for the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest as part of Professor Pat Young's senior capstone class on LGBTQ history at Portland State University.

In this interview, Copeland discusses his early life in Redmond and Portland, Oregon. He talks about his social life as a gay man in the mid-20th century, particularly the role of Portland gay bars. He speaks at length about his involvement with the Portland Town Council. He also discusses his 1982 campaign for the Portland City Council. He speaks about the progression of gay rights in the United States; talks about his experience during the AIDS epidemic; and speaks about the various jobs he worked. The interview closes with discussion about the senior capstone class on LGBTQ history at Portland State University.

Dates

2011 February 17

Creator

Copeland, Larry S. (Larry Steven), 1947-2017 (Interviewee, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Biographical note

Larry Steven Copeland was born in Terrebonne, Oregon, in 1947. His family moved to Redmond when Copeland was in the fourth grade. He studied business administration at Lewis & Clark College in Portland. After two years in college, he briefly moved to San Francisco and returned to Portland in 1974. He co-founded the Portland Town Council, a gay and lesbian organization headquartered in Portland Oregon, that included political, social, and community development components. In 1982, he ran for Portland City Council as the first openly gay candidate in Oregon. He died in 2017.

Extent

651 Megabytes (1 audio file (WAV, 1 hr., 4 min., 34 sec.) + transcript (33 pages))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with Larry S. Copeland conducted by Emily Bowen and Kenty Truong on February 17, 2011, for the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest. Copeland was a gay rights activist in Portland, Oregon.