Carrie Archer Oral History Interview, July 27, 2018

Partial Transcript: Lets start with your introduction of yourself...

Segment Synopsis: Carrie Archer was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, but grew up in Fort Scott, Kansas. Her parents chose to move the family to Kansas when her father decided to start a small retail business selling welding supplies. After running the business for years they were eventually bought out, where they transitioned into running a hotel. Carrie was the youngest of three girls, her sisters were 4 and 6 years older. The family was heavily involved in the local sports community, commonly attending the football and basketball games. Carrie was on the cheerleading team her junior year of high school, before transitioning into the role of the school mascot, dressing up as the Tiger at both home and away games.
She describes how her family would go on road trips to visit her mothers family in Michigan, as well as to visit prospective colleges for her older sisters. They would pile up in the van and drive hours across the country, she has fond memories of bonding with her father in the van while everyone else slept. Carrie eventually attended an all women's college which consisted of women from various states and countries. The combination of their road trips and her experience at school contributed to what she described as her growing world view.

Partial Transcript: Did you know that you wanted to leave that smaller town?

Segment Synopsis: She briefly explains that some of the culture of small town life led her to leave where she lived for a bigger city. She then moves forward to how she got involved in the food and beverage industry despite the fact that it was not a focal point of her family back home.
She speaks more about one of her sisters who attended Kansas State University and worked in an arena, which granted Carrie access to some cool concerts like George Straight and other main stream country singers. The first college Carrie attended was a two year women's liberal arts school, Cottey College. She explains that experience at Cottey really opened her eyes to the differences people have in their various backgrounds. It served as a very informative bridge to understanding people who originate from all different locations.

Partial Transcript: So Pittsburg State is not in Pennsylvania?

Segment Synopsis: After her two years at Cottey, she transferred to Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. While at Pittsburg, she attended a sorority and again became the school mascot, this time as a gorilla. She characterizes her time in Pittsburg as a time when she lived out the typical college experience life involving greek life, partying, and a lack of focus on academics while she received a Bachelor of Arts in Communications. She graduated in 1998, where she then returned to Cottey College and worked as an Admission Representative as a recruiter. She remained at Cottey College until 2001. Her position required her to travel all over the country, and she was also able to visit London as a sponsor funded by the College. Her ability to take these trips reinvigorated her love for exploring, and she was able to do plenty of that in this position.

Partial Transcript: I left Cottey the first time just because I was ready...

Segment Synopsis: Carrie worked two stints at Cottey, and she characterized the reason for leaving the second time. She transitioned into a part time role at Weight Watchers, which eventually led to her moving to Oregon to step into a role in the state capitol, Salem in 2010. Her partner earned a role in the registrar office at Western Oregon University and the couple moved out shortly after.
Carrie was blown away by her first impression of Oregon, the natural beauty of the area was unlike anything she had experienced in the previous locations she had lived in. Shortly after moving to Oregon, they joined a group called Salem Beer and Wine Adventures. It was a group that created the opportunity for people to meet new friends while enjoying beer and wine and local breweries and wineries, which Carrie describes as what sparked her love for craft brewing. They had a friend that encouraged them to start home brewing, which they eventually began to do.

Partial Transcript: When did you get married?

Segment Synopsis: The couple got married in 2014 while Carrie was pregnant with their first child, which they pulled off in a matter of 6 days after their decision in order to gain an advantage in tax breaks. Carrie then came to OSU in 2012 to work in the INTO program which she did for 4 years. She explains that her role was mostly behind the scenes getting the logistics under control for 800-1200 students. The whole mission of this program was designed to create a soft landing for students in the first year of college for international students. She said that at the start of the program it wasn't effectively integrated into the university, as it felt like more of a business deal as opposed to a truly helpful program for the students.
Carrie then stepped into a role with the registrars office which was a bit of a natural transition as much of her previous job involved interaction with the registrar department.

Partial Transcript: When did she (Whitney) come to the women's center?

Segment Synopsis: Carrie elaborates on her wife's career, who received a Masters degree in Women Gender & Sexuality Studies, and was then hired as the Director of the Women's Center. She quickly moves forward to her experience of being a woman in the home brewing community, which she found that she was an individual that came across as very approachable to other members of the group.
She shares her thoughts about women's ability to become part of the home brewing community and how she can contribute to creating a sense of inclusivity to any woman that wants to get involved.