Interview with Bev Buhr

Partial Transcript: So, to start out, can you tell me when and where you were born?

Segment Synopsis: Father was in WWII, then had many odd jobs. Mother taught home economics.

Keywords: Clintonville, Wisconsin; Marion, Wisconsin; WW2; WWII; World War II; World War Two; childhood; home economics; military draft; signal corps; stay-at-home mom; unemployment

Partial Transcript: What about you when you were a kid? What did you like to do?

Segment Synopsis: Buhr describes her life as a child in rural Wisconsin. In particular, she speaks about the ways she played and where she liked to play. She remembers that, “they called me a tom-boy”.

Keywords: baseball; football; rural Wisconsin; small town Wisconsin; sports; tom-boy; tomboy

Partial Transcript: A big thing that really influenced me as a child was my old brother...

Segment Synopsis: Buhr shares a life-shaping responsibility of her childhood. She “watched after” her older brother, who was born with brain damage. She remembers running from bullies and believes her experience “made [her] someone who takes responsibility” and “value[s] service to others”.

Keywords: bullying; disability; guardianship; legal guardian

Partial Transcript: Do you think that perhaps it-- as a small child, taking care of other people led you to what you did...

Segment Synopsis: Discussion of Buhr’s experience as she trained to become a firefighter. Buhr explains the high levels of controversy and media attention surrounding the graduating class of 1980. She describes that her class, from which 10 women graduated and moved on to fire stations, “integrated the fire station with women”. Buhr explains the support and strategies of the fire chief, Ed Durkin, to integrate the fire department with not only women, but also men of color. The fire department develops a standard test (with a standard grading system) that everyone must pass in order to become a firefighter. She remembers that men of color in training were very supportive of the women in training.

Keywords: Ed Durkin; MFD; Madison Fire Department; POC; fire chief; fire training; integration; media attention; people of color; physical exam; women firefighters; women in firefighting; workplace discrimination

Partial Transcript: You know, I had come right from Women's Studies into the fire station.

Segment Synopsis: Discussion of Buhr’s experience as a feminist firefighter. She remembers several events that were difficult to deal with.

Keywords: MFD; Madison Fire Department; feminism; feminist; sexual harassment; women firefighters; women in firefighting; women's studies; workplace discrimination

Partial Transcript: And-- And really, we also got connected with women all over the country.

Segment Synopsis: Buhr explains how women firefighters shared information with each other across the country and even came together for annual conferences. She notes that an important way to share information was through a newsletter called Women in Fire. In particular, she talks about sharing “alternative techniques” that were necessary for women to accomplish tasks with equipment made for men.

Keywords: Women in Fire newsletter; feminism; feminist; fire training; sexual harassment; support network; women firefighters; women in firefighting; workplace discrimination

Partial Transcript: Alright, what about-- Can you tell me a little bit about your time that you spent a the university?

Segment Synopsis: Discussion of Buhr’s undergraduate experience at UW-Madison. She remembers being “intimidated by a lot of my classmates and my professors” who were mostly men. She does not remember any female professors, but was supported and encouraged by a female TA. UW-madison offered Buhr her first opportunity to play team sports. Buhr reflects on the importance of playing sports as an undergraduate, positing that sports “got me through college”. Buhr graduates with a bachelor’s degree in medical microbiology. After her graduation, she continues to play sports and decides she wants to become a coach and go back to school for graduate work.

Keywords: Lathrop Hall; TA; Title IX; UW Women's Basketball; Women's Studies; club sports; exchange student; freshman year; grad school; graduate school; male-dominated field; microbiology; pre-med; teaching assistant; undergrad; undergraduate; volleyball

Partial Transcript: And so then I applied to the men's physical education program.

Segment Synopsis: Discussion of Buhr’s experience with graduate school at UW-Madison. Buhr explains why she must apply to the men’s physical education program to study exercise physiology. She remembers “run-ins” with people and provides an example. Buhr recalls meeting Mariamne Whatley, who suggests Buhr apply to be a TA in the Women’s Studies program. Buhr recalls her experience in 1978 as a TA for the class Women and their Bodies and Health and Disease as a “fabulous experience”. She also remembers she began to think about becoming a firefighter this same year.

Keywords: Dance; Graduate school; MFD; Madison Fire Department; Mariamne Whatley; Men's Physical Education; RA; TA; Women's Physical Education; Women's Studies; biodynamics lab; exercise physiology; feminism; grad school; lecturing; male-dominated field; physiology; research assistant; rugby; sexual harassment; teaching assistant; women's health; women's rugby

Partial Transcript: So did you spend a fair amount of time at the Brooks Street House?

Segment Synopsis: Discussion of the Brooks Street House. Buhr describes the location as “comfy” and remembers it was a nice place to hang out. Buhr explains that she was “mostly a listener” and was “in awe” of the conversations that circulated around the house. Attending the house meetings was ”expanding” for her. While Buhr remembers the house as gay and lesbian friendly, she recalls that gender issues, race, and intersectionalities of oppression were not topics of analysis.

Keywords: Brooks Street House; LGBT; Women's Studies; feminism; feminist; gay; gay-friendly; job talks; lesbian

Partial Transcript: Were you involved in any feminist protests or political activism?

Segment Synopsis: Buhr explains that while she was not involved in activist groups at the time, she believed she had her own form of activism, which was proving to people that women could play sports and be firefighters too.

Keywords: Madison Fire Department; feminism; feminist; women firefighters; women in firefighting; women's rugby; women's sports

Partial Transcript: You know, in many ways, I was glad-- You see, I was-- You know-- I knew I was a little bit different; I didn't exactly understand about being a lesbian.

Segment Synopsis: Discussion of Buhr’s experience coming out as a lesbian. She recalls lacking the vocabulary to describe herself in high school. Growing up in Marion, Wisconsin, she had never heard the words homosexual or lesbian. In college, Buhr reads Our Bodies Ourselves, with particular focus on the chapter describing sexual orientation. In retrospect, she was glad she did not have to “deal with it” in high school. She believes that if she came out in high school, she would not have had anyone to talk to.

Keywords: Brooks Street House; LGBT; Our Bodies Ourselves; Well of Loneliness; child care center; feminism; feminist; gay; homosexual; lesbian

Partial Transcript: Yeah, I felt very welcome there. I felt--

Segment Synopsis: Here Buhr describes her master’s thesis. She wanted to conduct the study with women subjects but funding was not available. Instead, she conducts a study with male subjects on long distance running. She was interested in uncovering why women athletes often developed anemia. She remembers that in the early 70’s, it was completely new for women to run long distances. She also mentions a woman neurobiologist connected with Women’s Studies who does work showing that women’s brains were not inferior to men’s brains.

Keywords: Anatomy and Physiology; Grad school; Men's Physical Education; Ruth Bleier; Women's Studies; anemia; cardiology; feminism; feminist; funding; graduate school; hematology; jogging; long-distance running; master's thesis; neurobiology; physiology; running; women's sports

Partial Transcript: What do you remember Madison being like in that time?

Segment Synopsis: Discussion of Madison during the 1970’s. Buhr describes Madison as “one of the better places in the world to come out as a lesbian”. She recalls studying at Going My Way and Lysistrata. She recalls the extent of race analysis conversations at these establishments was that “racism is bad, but we’re the good white people”. Buhr also posits that her experience in Women’s Studies helped her to gain a different perspective other than the mainstream.

Keywords: Going My Way; LGBT; LGBTQ; Madison community; Madison, Wisconsin; UW-Madison; WOC; feminism; feminist; gay; gay bar; gay community; gender non-conforming; homosexual; intersectional feminism; lesbian; lesbian bar; lesbian community; lysistrata; women of color

Partial Transcript: And then being on the fire department, that's where I really started developing my analysis around race, you know, and class.

Segment Synopsis: Buhr describes developing her own race and class analysis while on the fire department. She remembers the graduating class of firefighters in 1980 all had bachelor degrees and two of the women, including herself, had master’s degree. On the other hand, the fire stations where she worked were composed of men with high school degrees. She recalls disparagement between the “working class” individuals and those with college degrees. She remembers finding ways to “build bridges” with other firefighters despite these differences.

Keywords: Green Bay Packers; MFD; Madison Fire Department; classism; discrimination; feminism; feminist; fishing; hunting; master's degree; rural Wisconsin; working-class

Partial Transcript: You know what my coping mechanism was, though? I pretended I was an anthropologist.

Segment Synopsis: Here Buhr shares her “biggest coping mechanism” as a feminist firefighter. She explains how she “pretended [she] was an anthropologist” and was “simply there to study the culture”. She explains that it was really hard to be a feminist within the fire department. She remembers that certain crews and certain officers were “really difficult to work for”. Buhr also remembers her struggle with her mental health during this time due to chronic stress, chronic pain, (due to ulcerative colitis and fibromyalgia) and irregular sleeping habits. She believes some of her chronic stress was due to “being on the outside year after year.” Buhr recalls trying to adapt to the firefighter culture but “that’s not who [she] was”. By the end of time in the Madison Fire Department, Buhr believed she had “made a lot of enemies with feminism and anti-racism”.

Keywords: LGBT; MFD; Madison Fire Department; anti-racism; chronic disease; chronic illness; chronic pain; feminism; feminist; fibromyalgia; lesbian; male-dominated field; mental health; misogyny; radical feminism; sexism; stress; ulcerative colitis; workplace culture; workplace discrimination

Partial Transcript: What did you do after? A: Well, then I went to nursing school.

Segment Synopsis: After leaving the fire department, Buhr goes back to school to attain a bachelor’s degree and eventually a master’s degree in nursing. She worked for a year as a registered nurse and then became a nurse practitioner.

Keywords: NP; RN; career change; nurse practitioner; nursing school

Partial Transcript: You know, the other thing I failed to mention - and this goes back...

Segment Synopsis: Here Buhr makes special note to include her experiences as a lesbian mom. She remembers meeting a woman at a fire conference who had become artificially inseminated and raised her child as a single mom. Buhr was able to become pregnant and believes that part of the reason she felt she could was due to Women’s Studies. She describes this experience as the “best thing I ever did”.

Keywords: LGBT; MFD; Madison Fire Department; Women's Studies; artificial insemination; feminism; feminist; gay parent; gay parenthood; lesbian; lesbian mom; lesbian mother; lesbian motherhood; motherhood; parenthood; single mother; single parent; women firefighters; women in firefighting

Partial Transcript: Is there anything else that you-- A: I don't know. Is there anything else?

Segment Synopsis: “I’m an activist now”. Buhr speaks about the organizations Young, Gifted, and Black and MOSES (an interfaith organization working on prison reform and reducing the prison population). While she is not actively engaged in feminism today, she believes “it all kind of, you know, transforms itself over the decades”. Buhr explains that she likes to think about how different kinds of oppressions intersect and believes it is important to build bridges across the oppressions. She describes that she “turned out to be more working class” and “not academic” even with two masters degrees. “A lot of it is about building relationships and standing with people in their struggle”.

Keywords: Dane County Jail; LGBT; MOSES; Madison Organizing in Strength Equality and Solidarity; YGB; Young Gifted and Black Coalition; activism; anti-racism; anti-racist; feminism; feminist; gay; intersectional feminism; intersectionality; lesbian; mass-incarceration; prison reform

Partial Transcript: So when Women's Studies was kind of like a catalyst for--

Segment Synopsis: As discussion winds down, Buhr believes “it was so fantastic to have my mind opened at that age”. She posits that feminism gave her courage to do the things she wanted to do, like play sports. In hindsight, she believes that "Women’s Studies helped shaped my analysis and shaped my view of the world” as well providing her with the courage to stand up for what she believes in.

Keywords: Feminine Mystique; Our Bodies Ourselves; Women's Studies; activism; college roommates; feminist; women's sports