Oral history project recounts queer resilience in Walla Walla Valley

The meeting room at Whitman College had space for about 50 people. That wasn’t nearly enough for historian Nikki Brueggeman’s presentation on queer oral histories in the Walla Walla Valley in Washington state. People stood and sat in every available space.

“It kind of made me feel validated in a way of like, ‘I told y’all, we were here.’ The community showed up and they wanted to hear the stories. They wanted to feel represented,” Brueggeman said, after a presentation about her exhibit, “Sweeter Than the Onions: Stories of Queer Resilience in Walla Walla.” The exhibit coincides with Pride Month, which is in June.

Queer people always have lived in the area, even if it wasn’t obvious, she said.