Community Member Spotlight: Marcia Peterzell
Born in 1938 to a family of Jewish origin, Marcia Peterzell grew up in Nyack, a small town in New York. The community had a large number of Germans, many of whom followed the powerful pro-Nazi political group the German Bund. Once World War II started, the area also contained a German prisoner of war camp. According to Marcia, “there were signs: ‘No dogs, no Jews, no n-words (sic).’ It was pretty frightening for a child just learning to read. At school, I endured mothers pulling away their children screeching: ‘You’re a Christ killer’ at me.’”
Marcia describes herself as a third generation political activist. Her Grandfather was a soapbox orator in the 1910’s preaching socialism. “My mother’s family would move from town to town as they would get thrown out because of my Grandfather’s politics. Growing up I believed honesty and integrity were the most important values. Still, I was puzzled when told to ‘act as an adult’ since the adults in my life were all dysfunctional.” I was a rebel in my family first and then everywhere else.”
Marcia says it was hard being bullied about being Jewish and because she had divorced parents. “At that time in my life, I did not appreciate the courage on my mother’s part (to divorce) or as an activist in the community.”
“Both my Mother and I were inspired by the civil rights movement. We went to National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples meetings in the 1940’s. I believed in the connections between the struggles for freedom of the Jews and Blacks. My brand of Jewish expression is being a fighter for social justice; I was always very aware of class difference.”
“Being politically active ‘allowed me’ to be angry at everything and everyone around me. (Also) my anger and unresolved issues from being an incest survivor meant that I often did not act appropriately. When I connected with a woman who did child abuse prevention work in the 1970-80s, I began to work on this issue that I had buried.”
In 1956, Marcia went to a teacher’s college in Buffalo “to get as far away from family as possible.” During her senior year, Marcia was part of the campuses first Human Rights Council, working to support protesting southern students. “When four African-American students courageously sat-in at a whites-only diner in Greensboro— that ignited my heart and my participation in activism on a national scale.”
Raising funds for The NAACP Legal Defense Fund for students in the South, Marcia had the chance to meet Thurgood Marshall. “We had raised $500 and he came and accepted the check on the students’ behalf.”
Despite her activism, together with threats from the Dean that she might not be able to “walk across the stage,” Marcia became the second in her family to graduate from college. That same year, she married a young doctor, had two children “fairly quickly and divorced fairly quickly… My activism disturbed him,” she says.
Marcia tells of participating in consciousness-raising groups from 1967-70. “Although I had two kids, the issues that the heterosexual women were raising were not important to me. When I ‘came out’ in 1971, I was a printer in a women’s collective in Washington, D.C. It was at the height of the Vietnam War. We printed ‘identity cards’ so young men could avoid the draft. We also photocopied the Pentagon papers. It was late one night on that project that I met a woman and came out with her.”
Over the years Marcia has worked as a teacher— from a south-side Chicago kindergarten to a San Francisco high school. Her work in conflict resolution led her to teach postgraduates at Jack F. Kennedy University and San Francisco State and to earn an M.S. degree. Her studies about and with Brazilian educator Paulo Friere led her to develop and implement a “peer-to-peer” conflict management program at San Francisco’s Woodrow Wilson High School. The program became a tool for national and international educators. Since, Marcia has become a full-time trainer, speaker, and workshop leader on conflict resolution at regional, national, and international conferences.
In 1993, Marcia’s mother moved to the Bay area. “Although she didn’t live with me, I knew she would need me. I gave up my full-time job and developed as a trainer. I feel satisfied that I did a good job taking care of my mom and we were able to resolve hurt feelings between us. She was tired when she died at 98. She wanted to live longer, but her body gave out.”
“We have the same humor, love, respect and admiration for one another. We like to make our home and be active in the community and have fun. I told Linda that she didn’t have to relate to my family in any way she didn’t want to, so she works out her own unique relationship with each of them. My personal life has been wonderful. My mother adored Linda and my family loves her.”
This April, Marcia will celebrate 23 years with her partner Linda.
Marcia and Linda also work together within the Community Living campaign. “We are currently developing a curriculum on “Connections for Health Aging,” and we are in partnership with Openhouse. Says Marcia, “It’s a 12-hour curriculum to assist seniors in aging at home for as long as possible. We hope to move people into thinking about ‘networks of care’ consisting of family members, neighbors, and friends to assist them.
When Linda was hospitalized in 2011, we had the direct experience of the idea. Family members, friends and neighbors stayed by her side 24/7, touching her, telling her stories, and showing her photographs. It brought her through.”
According to Marcia, “a wealth of experience and information from a long, rich and full life will be useful to many of us as we age in a city where there are now 25,000 LGBT people over the age of 60.” For Marcia, activism continues.
Emerald O'Leary
(aka Mary Anderson)
she/her/hers
Emerald O'Leary (aka Mary Anderson) of San Francisco, formerly of Ireland and London, passed away December 19, 2016 at Laguna Honda Hospice after a more than five-year battle with metastatic cancer of the breast and bone. O'Leary was an accomplished artist, actor, poet, writer, and executive assistant during her 28 years in San Francisco.
