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Library

Linda Mussman

July 17, 2012

|

Hudson, NY

Song

Recorded by

Hiram Perez

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Summary:

I met Linda Mussmann at her workplace, Time and Space Limited (TSL) for our Interview. Linda Mussmann, together with her partner Claudia Bruce, co-directs TSL, a theater company and independent movie house in Hudson, New York. TSL also hosts programs by the Metropolitan Opera. Linda was born in Gary, Indiana, at the hospital closest to her farm home. Early on she realized she was different and that she would need to leave the farm for an urban location. After studying theater at Purdue University, and a year in Chicago, Linda made her way to New York City in order to pursue a career in the theater. She was primarily drawn to experimental theater and names Samuel Beckett as a major influence in her life. The cost of living in New York City led Linda and Claudia to Hudson, where they decided to permanently settle and where Linda founded TSL. This interview may be of special interest researchers of women in theater, women and farm life during the mid-Twentieth Century, and histories of lesbians growing up in rural areas. Due to interviewer error, part of Linda’s response to the first question is missing at the very beginning of the audio. There is a follow-up interview.

Themes:
Time & Space Limited
,
Theater
,
Farming
,
New York City
,
Gender
,
Mid Twentieth Century
,
LGBTQ+
,
Interviewer Bio:
Hiram Perez

Hiram Perez is an Assistant Professor of English at Vassar College, affiliated also with the programs in Africana, Latin American and Latino/a, and Women's Studies. He teaches courses on immigrant writing, Latino/a literature, methodologies for literary criticism, as well as interdisciplinary seminars on Queer Theory, Queer of Color Critique, Gay Harlem, and Racial Melodrama. In his spare time, he volunteers at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, helping to coordinate a Black Gay and Lesbian Archive. He also volunteers with the Vassar Prison Program.

Additional Info:
Interview language(s):
English
,
Audio quality:
Medium

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Permissions: 

This interview is hereby made available for research purposes only. For additional uses (radio and other media, music, internet), please click here to inquire about permissions.

Part of this interview may be played in a radio broadcast or podcast.

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