Gudrun Gates

Author

Julie M. Luker, Concordia University, St. PaulFollow

Files

Interviewee

Gudrun Gates

Interviewer

Cole Steinberg

Transcriber

Thanh Huynh

Generation

Baby Boom Generation (1946-1964)

Neighborhood

Multiple Saint Paul

Document Type

Oral History

Date of Interview

7-26-2022

Keywords

Multiple, Dayton's Bluff, Chisago City, Mounds Park, Saint Paul, 1954

Disciplines

Oral History | Psychology

Abstract

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Gudrun Gates, Caucasian female born August 15th, 1954. She had two older brothers. Gates’s father was a machinist. Her mother was a stay-at-home mom. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Gates describes her unique family structure with the many grandparents that she had. She describes the struggles that had growing up poor. Her father worked three jobs. She describes the communal response to poverty at the time where neighbors would take care of each other and how that influenced her as an adult. She talks about attending Swedish Lutheran church with her father and how faith has helped her. Gates talks about the freedom of childhood back then where you’d be able to roam free until the streetlights came on. She also describes the shared values and unspoken rules around the deference that children had for their elders and other people’s property. Gates talks about her time in school, her self-imposed exile from kindergarten, and other teachers she remembers more fondly making an impact. Lastly, she spoke on issues in the community. Gates talks about how addiction and mental illness were present but kept quiet. She describes factories closing and how that affected the neighborhood.

Copyright

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced without the written permission of Concordia University Library or Julie Luker, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, St. Paul.

Recommended Citation

Luker, Julie M., "Gudrun Gates" (2022). Saint Paul and Surrounding Area. 38.
https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/tc-ohp_interviews_stp/38