00:00:02.820 - 00:00:50.390

Sisson, Elizabeth: All right. So thanks so much for meeting with us this morning. I really appreciate it. So I have already sent you the summary of my research, but I can just go over it again really quickly Sisson, Elizabeth: and briefly. In the early 70s, the Women's Center at Towson Sisson, Elizabeth: began, and it provided a lot of resources to women on campus. My research is focused on getting a big picture of the Women's Center. When I first started my research this summer, I didn't… Sisson, Elizabeth: I found a lot of stuff from the 70s and the 80s, but then once I got into the 90s and 2000s, I kind of stopped finding a lot of information about the Women's Center.

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Sisson, Elizabeth: And even my information that I found in the 70s and the 80s, it was lots of bits and pieces, and a lot of, like, paper materials, so I really wanted to get an Sisson, Elizabeth: experiential component into my research. Sisson, Elizabeth: And I really appreciate you meeting with me, so, you know, that could help out. Sisson, Elizabeth: Sounds good.

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Sisson, Elizabeth: Awesome. So can you tell me about who you are and where you're from? Paula Yue: Okay, my name is Paula Yue, and I'm from San Fran… Well, actually, originally from Arizona, but I've been in San Francisco, Paula Yue: oh, since 1970, and my daughter was born here in 1971, and so my husband, who was a minister with the Methodist Church, was transferred to Paula Yue: Washington, DC. And we lived in Columbia, Maryland, and he worked very much with...

00:01:50.720 - 00:02:34.790

Paula Yue: He was Chinese, and he worked very much with the Methodist Church in integration of various ethnicities and diversity and diversity awareness within the Methodist Church throughout the United States. Paula Yue: And when I was living here in San Francisco, this was the beginning of the women's movement, very active here, very active. And, you know, I went through Lamaze training, had natural childbirth, breastfeeding, all that, so Paula Yue: I was quite familiar with women and women's movement here in San Francisco. Paula Yue: So, when we moved to Maryland, I'd already had a couple of years of

00:02:35.020 - 00:03:18.080

Paula Yue: undergraduate underneath me, some from San Francisco State, some from Arizona State University. Paula Yue: And so I just wanted to go back and get my degree, and I've always been interested in religion and philosophy and women's issues, so when I was looking around for a school Paula Yue: Towson seemed like the perfect place for me, and so I started their philosophy program there and Paula Yue: at some point, and I don't remember exactly when, because it's been more than 50 years. My daughter's 55 now. So,

00:03:18.460 - 00:03:47.830

Paula Yue: around probably 1973, Paula Yue: 74, is probably when I was at Towson, and one of the reasons I chose Towson, this is really important, is because they had just opened up a childcare center. Paula Yue: And the childcare center allowed me to go to school. Paula Yue: And so that was key. And then from the childcare center,

00:03:48.310 - 00:04:26.290

Paula Yue: at some point, I was going through a separation with my husband, and so I needed extra income and started out as a work study student at the Women's Center. Paula Yue: I don't remember a lot other than I did send you a name, Carmen Quinones. Yeah, she was a friend of mine. She also was a work study student at that time at Towson, and she is now an attorney outside of Chicago somewhere. Paula Yue: And so she was also very interested in Paula Yue: women's issues.

00:04:26.290 - 00:05:00.300

Paula Yue: Now, in philosophy, I was very familiar with The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir, because that was one of the big introductions to the women's movement for me, was The Second Sex, Paula Yue: and because, living in San Francisco, it also was Paula Yue: the time of the Vietnam War, the flower children. I lived across the street from Golden Gate Park, where a lot of the Paula Yue: activity was happening. So, for me, just to be part of

00:05:00.530 - 00:05:50.450

Paula Yue: that back there, even though I was isolated in a very suburban new community, which Columbia was just very young at that point, very small, very just getting developed. Paula Yue: And so going back to school was key for me to stay connected to my education, allowing me to put my daughter to daycare there. And she, you know, what I think is interesting with my daughter is that she was raised Paula Yue: with the feminist movement. And now at 55, she works with many women's groups now Paula Yue: and is very focused on that, and works with, the summer solstice, the winter solstice, all the solstices she works with. So, she's very interested in women's stuff.

00:05:50.650 - 00:05:57.910

Paula Yue: So… Sisson, Elizabeth: Nice. Paula Yue: Yeah, it was. I think she just… Paula Yue: Well, number one, I never really treated her

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Paula Yue: to… She never had Barbie dolls, she never had any of that. And Paula Yue: she only had a cloth doll that a friend of mine made. So it was a different time frame. And I was very aware of trying to allow her to be more strong and more who she is. And she's strong, so she's good. Sisson, Elizabeth: That's wonderful. Paula Yue: Yeah, so that's who I am and why I attended Towson, because they had the Day Care Center available, and they had what I wanted in philosophy, and, you know, I cannot remember, to tell you the truth, I must have taken some women's studies classes, but I don't remember.

00:06:38.690 - 00:07:12.170

Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah, a lot of the women's studies classes at the time were all in different programs, like as far as my research has shown me and, like, super interdisciplinary. So there was a lot of, like, philosophy classes and the history classes and all of those together would make up the major. Sisson, Elizabeth: Um... Paula Yue: I think so, because we had some strong women teachers in philosophy, and I'm sure I got a lot of that from them. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Do you remember any teachers or professors from your time here?

00:07:13.810 - 00:07:57.490

Paula Yue: No, I remember only an African American... Well, he wasn't African American. He may be an African teacher. Teaching philosophy that I felt aligned with, but I don't know. I don't remember anybody. You have to understand it's 50 years. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah, no worries. What was, and some of the questions that I'm gonna ask are, you know, on the movement as well. What was the biggest difference that you could gauge from coming from San Francisco to Maryland in terms of the women's movement? Paula Yue: You know, except for Towson State and the Women's Center, I didn't feel any... Paula Yue: And of course, I was in Columbia, Maryland.

00:07:57.630 - 00:08:14.300

Paula Yue: I mean, that is, Paula Yue: you know, what was white, middle class. I mean, it was just… I was isolated, actually, isolated. I thought Towson State... Paula Yue: Being at Towson State was very important for me to be connected there. Paula Yue: And

00:08:14.300 - 00:08:50.150

Sisson, Elizabeth: Yep. Paula Yue: again, with the Women's Center being connected there, and then having the daycare there, all that. So, you know, it was just a different era back then in Maryland, especially being isolated in Columbia. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah, to my research actually about the daycare, the women and faculty, the women students and faculty that Sisson, Elizabeth: came to meet with President Fischer that requested the Women's Center. They also… One of their other demands was also requesting the Child Care Center, so I thought that was pretty cool and a nice cross path.

00:08:50.370 - 00:09:13.850

Paula Yue: It was really important. I can't tell you how important it was. I don't know what I would have done if it hadn't been available. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Sisson, Elizabeth: Do you believe that the Women's Liberation Movement influenced you or the Women's Center's workings? If so, could you elaborate on how? Paula Yue: Oh, sure! I mean, really, it was so key.

00:09:13.980 - 00:09:48.710

Paula Yue: The whole movement was so key back then. And of course, you know, we had the bra burning, Paula Yue: of which I haven't worn a bra since I was in high school, but, you know, the letting your hair grow, on your legs and armpits, I mean, it was pretty... Breastfeeding, being out, you know, in the open breastfeeding, you know, it's just kind of that way, Paula Yue: and Paula Yue: I just think that it was very important to me. I was coming from a small town in Arizona,

00:09:49.040 - 00:10:39.330

Paula Yue: you know, they didn't have any of that, you know, it's... So coming to San Francisco, thank goodness I came to San Francisco. To me, it was the best thing because there was a lot we had you know, Cecil Williams and the black movement here and Cesar Chavez, which turned out to be Paula Yue: not so good in the end, but he was in the beginning, apparently, you know, with the farm workers, but not with women. I was really appalled to read more about what happened with Cesar Chavez and his Paula Yue: women. So, but yeah, no, it was key. It was key. I think that I would… If I hadn't been here during the women's movement, beginning over here in San Francisco, I'm not sure Paula Yue: how I would have,

00:10:39.600 - 00:11:06.940

Paula Yue: you know, ended up in Maryland and dealt with that, because that was, as I said before, is very isolating. All my family was, you know, someplace else, and knew nobody, and whereas my husband could go off to work every day, I didn't have anybody. Nobody. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Do you feel that there was a sense of community at Sisson, Elizabeth: Towson, or in the Women's Center, specifically Sisson, Elizabeth: while you're here?

00:11:06.940 - 00:11:58.550

Paula Yue: Yeah, I must have, because, I mean, Carmen was a long-time friend. It's only been over the last, you know, 10 years or something that we haven't stayed very connected at all. But for years, I went to her wedding, Paula Yue: you know, all the stuff that she went through. So, yeah, no, I thought it was very important. It was a good time for that. You know, the women's movement had come of age, and I thought it was very good. And then I went to San Francisco State, and I got my Paula Yue: degree in philosophy, and I continued with that, and then on to get, you know, a PhD in transpersonal psychology. So, yeah, you know, to me, it was always one step ahead, you know, just a progression. So, yeah. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah.

00:11:58.550 - 00:12:34.540

Paula Yue: Very important. I mean, it's sad what's going on right now. I mean, I'd like to have seen my daughter be more politically active. Paula Yue: She's more into women's individual growth psychically and emotionally. But politically, it would have been good to see her be an attorney, rights, you know, for women or something like that. That's where I had in my mind she was going. But she turned into something a little bit different. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Sisson, Elizabeth: Do you believe that you were politically active when you were at Towson State?

00:12:35.900 - 00:13:34.990

Paula Yue: You know, when you're, you know, I was going through a divorce at that time and separating and I had a lot to deal with between, you know, my daughter and moving out and going to school and financially strapped and things like that. Paula Yue: So other than just focused on surviving at that point, no. If I didn't have a child, if I had more financial resources or whatever, it probably would have been different, but Paula Yue: I think when you're, you know, 24, 25, and you're just surviving, and you're away from family, no support systems, and you're in the process of divorcing in a, you know, in a community that, Paula Yue: you know, you don't know. So yeah, it was no, unfortunately. But you know I have been very supportive back here, you know, continuing to to study and

00:13:35.300 - 00:13:58.670

Paula Yue: just, aware, and but in terms of demonstrating, I don't recall. Paula Yue: No, I don't recall. Sisson, Elizabeth: No worries. Thank you so much. So, if I were to walk into the Women's Center in Sisson, Elizabeth: the early 1970s, what would I see, or what conversations would I hear?

00:14:00.570 - 00:14:57.260

Paula Yue: Well, I think very similar to the ones that you and I've been talking about, but, to tell you the truth, Paula Yue: other than getting more awareness around women's rights and women's especially able to choose what kind of life they want. Luckily, I had parents who were adamant that, Paula Yue: you know, we get an education. I have an older sister and a younger sister. I mean, they were adamant. I've had friends who were in a family of five, the oldest, and they only sent the boy to college, and she had to work her way through. So, I know there's different, Paula Yue: you know. I think education is so important. What can I say? Awareness reading? All that, I think that is just

00:14:57.800 - 00:15:24.750

Paula Yue: very, very important for one's consciousness to expand and be aware. And and I'm a little... Paula Yue: I am disappointed, I can tell you, disappointed in young women at this point who didn't realize how difficult it was before we had the pill. Paula Yue: I can tell you. Paula Yue: I mean, even to this day, my 85-year-old friend,

00:15:24.970 - 00:16:00.810

Paula Yue: you know, she was very conscious because her two younger sisters got pregnant at 16. She was very conscious about not... And only when she got to San Francisco was the pill available. So some of the things that your generation take for granted Paula Yue: we didn't take for granted. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Paula Yue: We didn't take abortions. We didn't take, I mean, really. So I must say I'm adamant about the fact that too many young women don't understand what the older generation did for them right now.

00:16:01.300 - 00:16:34.910

Paula Yue: So I... Paula Yue: And, you know, I started my daughter on the pill at 15, when she became interested in a boy, you know, 15. I said, if you're gonna have sex with that kid, you bring him home. I don't want it to be in the backseat of a car. I don't want you to risk anything. Paula Yue: You know, and she is so grateful to this day for all that I supported her in that kind. Of course, she went to UC Santa Cruz, and that's a very open school, Paula Yue: and I don't know if you know anything about UC Santa Cruz, but it's...

00:16:35.760 - 00:17:10.930

Sisson, Elizabeth: I know a little bit about it. When I was in my, you know, deciding where I wanted to go to school, I did look into there briefly. So I am quite a little bit familiar with it. Sisson, Elizabeth: Are these conversations like, you know, about the pill, for instance, was that something that you guys would talk about in the Women's Center, while you were there? Paula Yue: You know, the pill Paula Yue: was only becoming... I mean, I was on an IUD as soon as I had my kid, so, and I was only... I was really never on the pill very long at all.

00:17:11.120 - 00:17:30.850

Paula Yue: And before I had my daughter. So now, Paula Yue: you know, I can't… You know, I'm sure there was conversations, but I can't remember specifics. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Paula Yue: But I can tell you, thank God for the IUD. Thank God for, you know, the pill. I mean, my daughter was on it for decades.

00:17:31.340 - 00:17:38.280

Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Paula Yue: So… Sisson, Elizabeth: While you were at the Women's Center, you mentioned that you had a work-study position. Paula Yue: Yes.

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Sisson, Elizabeth: Do you remember what your responsibilities were while you were working there? Paula Yue: You know, I don't know. We must have helped whoever was the director or whatever. At that point we must have done flyers. We must have done small groups. I honestly... I'm sorry, Lizzy, I don't. Sisson, Elizabeth: No worries. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah, no worries at all.

00:18:06.480 - 00:18:29.610

Sisson, Elizabeth: Do you have any favorite memories during your time at the Women's Center? Paula Yue: You know, I was just grateful, very grateful to have it. Paula Yue: Very grateful to have that job, grateful to be in that environment, grateful for the childcare. Those, you know, and I love philosophy. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah.

00:18:29.730 - 00:18:47.850

Paula Yue: And I know some good female philosophy professors. So, you know, I just felt, you know, that was Paula Yue: really supportive at that point, and that's what I needed since I was so far away from everybody else I knew and that type of thing. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Paula Yue: Yeah.

00:18:48.310 - 00:19:07.790

Sisson, Elizabeth: I know you mentioned that you had or have a pretty lifelong friendship with Carmen Quinones that you met at the Women's Center. How did Sisson, Elizabeth: your time at the... When did you guys meet at the Women's Center? Do you recall? Paula Yue: It had to be right off the bat. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah.

00:19:07.790 - 00:19:24.500

Paula Yue: It had to be soon. Paula Yue: It's soon, you know, I went, I traveled with her in her little Karmann Ghia Paula Yue: to Chicago, where she was from, and she, you know, she's bisexual, so I Paula Yue: met her husband, met her wife, you know,

00:19:24.740 - 00:19:50.450

Paula Yue: all that. So, yeah, Paula Yue: we were close back in those days. I thought it was important. I mean, she was one of my closest female friends. I didn't have any really female friends, because Paula Yue: the women in Columbia Paula Yue: were, you know, nice suburbian women, but…

00:19:50.450 - 00:20:09.760

Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Paula Yue: You know, not people that I would have really socialized with at all. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Paula Yue: That type of thing. But other than Carmen, I can't even remember anybody else at Towson State, other than philosophy professors, to tell you the truth.

00:20:10.260 - 00:20:45.820

Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. What were some of the things that you all connected over when you first met? Paula Yue: Well, I'm sure we Paula Yue: connected with the whole idea of the women's movement. I don't think Carmen would have, you know, ended up as a work study if she wasn't interested in women's issues. Paula Yue: And I think even today, she works with a lot of women in divorce settings, divorce cases. So, I don't know.

00:20:46.810 - 00:21:21.530

Paula Yue: I think the… You know, I really can't say. Hmm. Sorry. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah, no worries. Sisson, Elizabeth: If you were to go back and come to Towson State and do it all over again, what would you prioritize? Paula Yue: Well, I think I did okay prioritizing. You know, I knew I wanted a degree.

00:21:22.140 - 00:21:42.030

Paula Yue: I wanted to be educated. Paula Yue: I knew my daughter had to have support. Paula Yue: And Paula Yue: so in terms of... I think I made the right choices at that time. I, you know, in that sense, there's, you know, in terms of,

00:21:42.370 - 00:22:13.720

Paula Yue: you know, I have a daughter that I love and is great. Paula Yue: You know, her father was not so great. So, you know, there are priorities, but I made some big transitions back there. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Paula Yue: Divorcing. And eventually, you know, within a year after I graduated from Towson, I moved back to San Francisco. I always felt connected to San Francisco, even though I was born and raised in a very small town in Arizona. Very different philosophy, different thinking,

00:22:13.780 - 00:22:43.860

Paula Yue: you know, everything. But to me, San Francisco was the place to raise her. That was the place to be. She was biracial, you know, she needed... You know, it was just the place to be. What can I say? Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Sisson, Elizabeth: Do you remember how you were introduced to the Women's Center, or was it just through the work study? Paula Yue: You know, that... It must have been

00:22:44.360 - 00:23:16.460

Paula Yue: as soon as I got her into the daycare there that Paula Yue: I realized I needed more income, which, of course, work study at that point didn't pay much, but at least it paid something. And I probably went to Paula Yue: check the work study board, and that was the one that came up. Paula Yue: And I've been in higher education ever since. I've been in higher education for 35, 40 years.

00:23:16.750 - 00:23:31.190

Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Paula Yue: I've always been in higher education. I was a registrar. I was dean of students. I've been in higher education since Towson, basically. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Sisson, Elizabeth: What was the work study board?

00:23:33.160 - 00:23:51.620

Paula Yue: It was... Back then you had just jobs posted. Sisson, Elizabeth: Oh, nice. Paula Yue: You just had jobs posted on the board, and you just pick a job, and you go get interviewed, and if they want you, then they give the job to you. That's... Paula Yue: We didn't have a lot of computers and stuff.

00:23:51.620 - 00:24:22.920

Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Sisson, Elizabeth: Okay. Do you remember Sisson, Elizabeth: any of the events that would take place, like, in conjunction with the Women's Center or women's studies? In my research I found a lot of... They would have discussion series, skills workshops. Do you remember any of those or participating in any of them? Paula Yue: I'm sure I did, if it was within the context

00:24:23.010 - 00:24:48.930

Paula Yue: of her daycare, her availability Paula Yue: for the daycare. I'm sure I did. I'm sure I did, because my mind continued to expand around women's issues, and being in higher education, and the importance of higher education, Paula Yue: and getting the word out and stuff like that. So, I'm sure I did. What specific ones? I don't recall. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah.

00:24:49.750 - 00:25:11.210

Sisson, Elizabeth: Do you have any recommendations of avenues I could explore in my research that I've left untouched thus far? Paula Yue: I don't know. What drew you to this? What is your major, by the way? Sisson, Elizabeth: Sociology. Paula Yue: Sociology. Okay, interesting. That was my daughter's major, too.

00:25:11.320 - 00:25:41.170

Paula Yue: She would have liked to do psychology, but she took a lot of women's studies classes at UC Santa Cruz. Paula Yue: Could you repeat that question again, please? Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah, of course. Do you have any recommendations of avenues I could explore in my research that I've left untouched thus far? Paula Yue: Well, I would really talk with an older generation of women.

00:25:41.830 - 00:26:05.430

Paula Yue: I really would. And what they experienced in the 70s and 80s, before you were born. Paula Yue: I don't know how your mother was, or your guardian, or anything like that. Paula Yue: But because of my activism as a woman, my daughter is who she is today. Paula Yue: I think that interviewing older women

00:26:05.580 - 00:26:37.820

Paula Yue: just like my friend who's 85, who knew she had to get out of her small town in Maine, you know, that she knew she had to be responsible for her life, and at 18, left and made her life here in San Francisco, you know, it just… Paula Yue: Strong… I would meet with strong, independent women who saw the women's movement as very important, as well as birth control, and taking control of their lives. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Paula Yue: Control of your life, and you don't have control of your life

00:26:37.950 - 00:27:18.530

Paula Yue: if Paula Yue: you have to work, you know, 80 hours a week, and have to take care of kids. I mean, I was fortunate enough to get into higher education, and, you know, be able to Paula Yue: survive that way, in many, many ways. So I think talking to some older women, maybe not as old as I am, but around this age, to see what it was like for them growing up, first without birth control, Paula Yue: then with birth control and the decisions that they made regarding their lives, especially around children and marriage.

00:27:19.500 - 00:27:49.540

Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Paula Yue: My current husband, I've lived with him for 30 years before I married him. 30 years is a long time, you know? So, making sure that the decisions are right at whatever age you are at that moment. So Paula Yue: I think that's all very important. So that would, in my feeling... And yes, you can get a lot from books. Paula Yue: But I think that women's experiences, individual experiences would be helpful.

00:27:50.280 - 00:28:15.160

Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Sisson, Elizabeth: Do you feel like your family situation while you were at Towson, really shaped Sisson, Elizabeth: how you decided to live your life going forward? Paula Yue: Well, it got my priorities in straight. You know, I did. It, you know, I knew that I needed to be back in San Francisco.

00:28:15.310 - 00:29:02.600

Paula Yue: I needed to be back in an atmosphere. I'm also very involved in spiritual community, because Paula Yue: my original major was philosophy and religion, and I was married to a Methodist minister, so I've been very active in the spiritual community. Luckily, the spiritual community Paula Yue: has a lot of gay ministers, and including my current one, and so very aware of inclusivity Paula Yue: and diversity and everything. So for me, you know, being part of the spiritual path, back there, I really wasn't connected. I had to be back in San Francisco to be exposed to more diversity of religious views here

00:29:02.680 - 00:29:55.700

Paula Yue: than back there. So I'm… I think, you know, back there, when you're, what, 24, 25, with a 3-year-old, a 4-year-old, you have to… And I got pregnant very young, you know, we're 20 years apart, we laugh. Paula Yue: She's 75. I mean, she's 55. I'm going to be 76 next month. So we always... Okay. I was a very young mother, very young. Didn't know what I was doing, you know, really. Paula Yue: I think of all these other women who wait until they're 30, 35, 40 to have kids. Paula Yue: I had one at 20, so I was very inexperienced, but my daughter and I have done a lot of traveling together, a lot of things together. So it's, you know, trying to get one's priorities straight as early as possible. I was really quite naive when I got married. Quite naive.

00:29:55.700 - 00:30:14.890

Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah. Paula Yue: And so that was a rough patch of time, but I was grateful to Paula Yue: have found, like I said, Towson and the Women's Center and the child care program to move me forward to the next step, to the next step, to get me back to San Francisco. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah.

00:30:15.100 - 00:30:28.180

Sisson, Elizabeth: Very nice, like, a nice path for you. Paula Yue: Yeah, I just knew, you know, that I couldn't stay in Maryland. Number one, I hate your weather. Paula Yue: Especially in the summertime, it is Paula Yue: so…

00:30:28.180 - 00:30:46.880

Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah, very muggy. Paula Yue: Very muggy. The dark skies were brown. It was awful. Sisson, Elizabeth: How it's looking today. Paula Yue: Yeah, well, I'm in San Francisco. It's 55 degrees, it's drippy, it's got fog, that type of thing. But I can go across the Golden Gate Bridge, which I plan to do, and go hiking

00:30:46.880 - 00:31:20.300

Paula Yue: right after this, and I'll be in 70-degree weather, and I'll get clear skies and a beautiful mountain to hike on, that type of thing. So, I knew that, and I was coming from Arizona, which was 100 and some odd degrees in the summertime, very dry, never muggy. Paula Yue: Part of it is the weather, but it was mostly, I knew I couldn't go back to Arizona because that thinking was nowhere near where I was, whereas San Francisco was more my thinking. Paula Yue: And so, more open-minded, more diversity, more inclusivity, more everything was in San Francisco at that time. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah.

00:31:20.300 - 00:31:39.190

Paula Yue: It is. Paula Yue: So… Sisson, Elizabeth: How did you feel... Did do you feel that Towson was a pretty diverse campus when you attended here or not so much? Paula Yue: Well, I couldn't say.

00:31:41.300 - 00:32:15.280

Paula Yue: My mind was just beginning to open to a lot of diversity. Paula Yue: I know for women, there was that, but in terms of ethnicity and cultural diversity, other than Paula Yue: being in San Francisco, I was involved with the Chinese community here, because that was my husband. Paula Yue: But I cannot tell you. I cannot recall. There wasn't any kinds of demonstrations, there was not

00:32:15.790 - 00:32:37.200

Paula Yue: any kind of, like, Paula Yue: black studies or black ethnicity resource centers that I recall at all. I think it was the women first, Paula Yue: that, I think, but, no, I really... I just said before, I was so focused on surviving at that point. Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah.

00:32:37.200 - 00:33:08.470

Paula Yue: So I don't recall, to tell you the truth, other than the women's stuff. Sisson, Elizabeth: No worries. Do you feel like your peers at the Women's Center were very were supportive of you and, you know, your family and making you feel at home Sisson, Elizabeth: while you were in Maryland? Paula Yue: Oh, yeah, oh, yeah. I don't, you know... Really going back every day to Columbia, Maryland, you know, wasn't that long a drive, maybe 45 minutes or something. I don't recall. But

00:33:08.720 - 00:33:23.500

Paula Yue: I was just glad to go to school every day. Paula Yue: I was glad to go to school. Sisson, Elizabeth: That's wonderful. Sisson, Elizabeth: Do you have any recommendations of additional people I could speak to that are related to the Women's Center?

00:33:23.860 - 00:34:01.230

Paula Yue: Other than Carmen Quinones, I don't know of anybody else. I'm sorry. I don't recall. It's just so many years ago and I don't recall the faculty names or anything like that. Sisson, Elizabeth: No worries. I really appreciate you sharing all this with me. It's really added a lot of context to my research, and it's really giving me a nice experiential component into, you know, all the papers I've been collecting and things I've been reading. So it's really nice to have someone's experience Sisson, Elizabeth: incorporated in this. Paula Yue: Well, I'm glad. And what is... Are you doing this for a BA project or MA project, or what are you doing?

00:34:01.450 - 00:34:42.340

Sisson, Elizabeth: No, I am a summer student researcher. This is what I'm doing over the summer here at Towson. I'm in my undergrad program right now. I'm a incoming senior. So this is just what I chose to do over the summer. Paula Yue: Oh, really? Oh, wow. Okay, well, this is great, great, great, great. I'm so excited for you to do this. This is… Dredging up history is hard, you know, it really is for this long a time. You're talking about over 50 years, so… Sisson, Elizabeth: Yeah, lots of loose threads. Paula Yue: Yes, well, I'm so glad you're doing that. I hope that gives you whatever basis you need for whatever next step in your life.

00:34:42.940 - 00:35:14.710

Sisson, Elizabeth: Thank you so much. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. Thank you so much for meeting with us. Paula Yue: Well, you're welcome, and I'm glad you contacted me. I hope it was helpful in some form. Sisson, Elizabeth: Of course, it definitely was. I will be in contact once I've, you know, finished up, once this meeting has been Sisson, Elizabeth: processed, and the transcript is done, and I'll send it over your way, and I'll also let you know my final project. I can send that to you if you'd like, if you'd like to see what that is.

00:35:14.710 - 00:35:40.000

Paula Yue: Okay, so you're gonna send the transcript to me. Sisson, Elizabeth: It comes with a transcript. I am just the one that, like, edits it and makes sure everything we said was accurate. Paula Yue: Wow, okay, is that an audio transcript or a written transcript? Sisson, Elizabeth: It's audio. The Zoom platform takes what we're saying right now, like the recording, and it turns it into a transcript, and I just go over it and make sure everything's accurate.

00:35:40.770 - 00:35:59.830

Paula Yue: Okay. Sisson, Elizabeth: And then it connects to this video so that there's closed captioning. Paula Yue: Okay, well, this is more advanced than I'm definitely used to. I do some zoom meetings, but not very many. So okay. Pleasure meeting you and Ashley. Sisson, Elizabeth: Thank you.

00:36:00.130 - 00:36:03.480

Paula Yue: Good luck in your research. Sisson, Elizabeth: Have a good rest of your day. Paula Yue: Thank you. Sisson, Elizabeth: Bye.

00:36:03.480 - 00:36:04.150

Paula Yue: Bye-bye.