The Stanford Historical Society's Oral History Program explores the institutional history of the University, with an emphasis on the transformative post-WWII period, through interviews with leading faculty, staff, alumni, trustees, and others. This content can also be searched through the Stanford Historical Society.

Stanford Pride Oral history project, 2015-2019

The purpose of the Stanford Pride Oral History Project is to preserve narratives of the Stanford LGBTQIA+ community for teaching, learning, and research, to strengthen ties with Stanford alumni, and to engage alumni in documenting the community’s history. Interviews typically begin with questions about childhood, family background, and early education. Interviewees then explore topics related to identity, gender, and sexuality and discuss their experiences of LBGTQIA+ life at Stanford, their post-Stanford lives, and topics of their choosing. Finally, they offer advice for future members of the Stanford LGTBQIA+ community. There are 59 interviews in the collection representing a variety of backgrounds and experiences. 

• Zoe Dunning: Zoe Dunning graduated with a master’s in business administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1993. In this interview, she describes her upbringing in the Midwest, her experiences as a student at the United States Naval Academy and the Graduate School of Business, and advocating for LGBTQ rights in the military. Dunning talks movingly of the pressures she felt as a lesbian student at the Naval Academy and while serving in the military in the 1980s and the consequences she experienced when she spoke out against the military’s ban on gay people. She describes her subsequent advocacy work, especially with the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, and the circumstances that led to President Barack Obama inviting her to the signing of the law overturning the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy in December 2010. She also recalls joining the Business School’s LGBTQ student group, later called Out4Biz, helping to start one of the groups most popular traditions, and getting involved with the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club in San Francisco.
• Alan Douglas: Alan C. Douglas received his undergraduate degree in history from Stanford in 1963 and his law degree from Stanford Law School in 1966. In this interview, Douglas reflects on his experiences as a student before he became aware that he was gay, the complexities presented by the Vietnam War, and the empowering effect of the 1969 Stonewall riots. Douglas recalls supporting LGBT students through advising at the career center and a mentorship program at the Fire House. Reflecting on life after Stanford, he talks about coming out to his spouse and children, parenting, and the LGBT community in Palm Springs, California, where he resides.
• Alice Lyman Miller: In this interview, Alice Miller, a researcher at the Hoover Institution, describes coming to terms with her transsexual identity and the process of transitioning and its impact on her family and work relationships. Making several references to her TED talk, “The Importance of Being Alice,” she describes her growing awareness of trans people beginning in the 1990s, her decision to transition, and coming out to her family and employers. Miller also speaks about growing up in Western New York; her experiences attending Princeton, then an all- male university; and working as an expert in Chinese affairs for the CIA and at Stanford.
• Chrysanthe Tan: Chrysanthe Tan received a bachelor’s degree in English from Stanford in 2009. In this interview, Tan talks about exploring her identity and her LGBTQ activism. In particular, she describes what it was like growing up with immigrant parents; joining student-led efforts opposed to Proposition 8, including the Stanford Theater Activist Mobilization Project (STAMP) and the National Marriage Boycott; and serving with the NGLTF Task Force as a Huffington Pride fellow. She also describes her changing views on queer marriage, her evolving activism, and her career as a writer, musician, podcaster, and artist.
• Rob Woodman: Rob Woodman (MA Education 1972) shares memories of his childhood in Belmont, California, his relationship with his parents and lesbian older sister, and his experiences coming out at age thirty. He recalls the AIDS epidemic and his experiences working in AIDS education and patient services at UC Davis and around the Bay Area, as well as developing an AIDS neuropsychological screening exam for his PhD in organizational and clinical psychology. He also offers observations on the LBGTQ+ community at Stanford in the early 1970s.

Other notable oral histories relating to the history of LGBTQIA+ community at Stanford include: 

• Nanette Gartrell: In this oral history, psychiatrist, researcher, and author Nanette Gartrell (BA Human Biology 1972) discusses her family and educational background and traces the trajectory of a career devoted to overturning stereotypes and scientific misconceptions about homosexuality, providing non-homophobic healthcare, and preventing sexual misconduct by physicians. Topics include the ramifications of her personal experience of sexual abuse as a child; the emergence of her identity as a lesbian; Stanford student life in the late 1960s, including the meeting of the first organized campus group of lesbians; lesbian communities in Davis, California, and Washington, DC; and the women’s music cultural movement. Gartrell also highlights her work on various APA taskforces related to women and/or sexuality; the organizations Dyke Docs and Women in Medicine; her efforts to ensure the profession treated sexual abuse of patients by psychiatrists as a serious ethical violation; and the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study, an investigation of American lesbian mothers and their children.
• William Eddelman: Associate Professor Emeritus, William S. Eddelman arrived at Stanford in 1958 with undergraduate degrees in zoology and pre-med from the University of Reno. After obtaining his master’s degree in 1960 in Theater, Eddelman spent a year at Cornell University in a doctoral program before transferring back to Stanford. He returned to Stanford in 1970 as an associate professor in the Drama Department, and was later promoted to Assistant Professor.  In this interview Eddelman describes his professional influences, including the global perspectives of Professors Wendell Cole and Doug Russell, and working for Dick Hay as a designer, and his own world-wide travels and interests. Eddelman references his life as a gay man in San Francisco and Stanford in the 1970s and 1980s. Eddelman also talks about his interaction with other Drama Department personnel, including Charles Lyons, and the substantial changes in the curriculum and degree focus in the Drama Department during the 1970s. Various projects Eddelman worked on at Stanford, including productions of Orasteia, Gaieties, and Twelfth Night, are described. Eddelman talks about his numerous and diverse interests in theater and costume design, including involvement with the Museum of Performance and Design in San Francisco, leading alumni tours of Venice and the Veneto for the Stanford Alumni Association, lecturing on Paris and Wagner, and cataloging his extensive postcard collection depicting various costume and design influences.

Jerry Cacciotti oral history

Jerry Cacciotti (1985 BA International Relations; 1990 MBA) shares memories of his early life and career and reflects on the impact of his year as a member of the first class of John Gardner Fellows, the advice he received from John Gardner, and the mission of the John Gardner Fellowship Association. Cacciotti begins by describing his childhood in Salinas, California, his parents’ careers in public service, and his early involvement in politics. He shares memories of his study abroad experiences while at Stanford, his involvement with LGBTQ+ student groups on campus, and how he came to apply for the John Gardner Public Service Fellowship in 1985. During his fellowship year, Cacciotti worked on the staff of Lee Hamilton (D-IN) in the US House of Representatives. He shares memories of working with Hamilton both as a fellow and as his personal press secretary. He describes bonding with other John Gardner Fellows and communicates some of the advice that Gardner gave him over the years as well as Gardner’s approach to mentoring. He concludes the interview by describing the formation and evolution of the John Gardner Fellowship Association and reflecting on Gardner’s legacy.