Washington County Oral Histories

Donna Maxey Easter oral history recording

An audio recording of an oral history of Donna Maxey Easter, Pacific University Class of 1970, recounting memories of her time at Pacific as a college student. The main topic of the interview is what her everyday experiences were like as a very social and involved African American woman in college from 1964-1970. Specific topics include: her first impressions of Pacific; becoming Secretary of the Freshman Class; socializing and dating; winning competitions such as the Omega Epsilon Phi Sweetheart contest; being loud and social as a library worker and being fired for it; what it was like coming to Pacific from Jefferson High School in Portland; being naive about sex and feeling embarrassed in class; memories of professors such as Dr. Prince (English), Dr. Roberts (Biology), and Dr. McVicker (Education); learning to study as a freshman for her Elementary Education degree and getting help from her dorm mates; having to dissect a frog and a rat in Biology; becoming a Boxerette; the value of a Pacific education; reactions to her interracial marriage when she and her husband Steve Pomerantz, who was white and Jewish, got married while they were students at Pacific; the mixed feelings she had about joining the Black Student Union because she wanted her husband to be able to join too; protests during the Vietnam War; being reprimanded as a Student Teacher for attending a protest during a school day and Pacific's lack of support for her at the time; working in the cafeteria and interacting with Auntie Edna (who would later be the Hawaiian Club advisor); the many other campus jobs that she held; receiving financial aid due to her father's poor health; dealing with prejudice from a staff member in Pacific's financial aid department; recalling how her father had been unable to get work as a teacher in Portland because he was Black; and working in Pacific's kitchen and watching a baker who always smoked while making pastries.

This is one of a group of recordings made during a reunion in October, 2024. The recording is accompanied by a transcript.

Easter, Donna Maxey

Oct. 2024

Pacific University Archives Memory Lab

Pacific University

Student activities

African American college students

Forest Grove, Oregon

1 audio file (41 min.)

English

PUA_OH_55

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Pacific University Archives

MP3

Johnson-Riley, Jenny