Oral history interview with Marilyn VanGraber
Title
Oral history interview with Marilyn VanGraber
Description
Marilyn VanGraber speaks about her experiences living at the Converse Home in Burlington, Vermont, during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a former risk manager at Fanny Allen Hospital and Fletcher Allen Health Care, she reflects on both her personal ties to healthcare workers and the challenges she observed in the healthcare industry. VanGraber especially focuses on the unknowns of the pandemic, sharing her perspective on how things were handled at the national, state, and local levels, including at the Converse Home. While the pandemic virtually erased her social life (in terms of visitors, church, and outside excursions), she felt that she coped better than many of her neighbors. She ends her interview by commenting on the role of the COVID vaccines and the reopening of Vermont. She mentions being especially thankful to have returned to in-person worship with her church community at Essex Alliance Church in Essex, Vermont.
Marilyn VanGraber (1940-2023) came to the Converse Home, an assisted living community in Burlington, Vermont, in 2019 due to the loss of both her legs. She was born and raised in the Burlington area and educated at the University of Vermont and the University of Iowa. Her first career was as an academic, specializing in teaching rhetoric. After which, she transitioned into positions in risk management at Vermont hospitals, primarily the Fanny Allen Hospital in Colchester, Vermont. She was a past president of the New Hampshire and Vermont Society for Healthcare Risk Management in 1991-1992.
At the time of this interview, the Converse Home in Burlington, Vermont, was the oldest assisted living community in Vermont, having been in operation for over 130 years.
Sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-251676-OMS-22.
Marilyn VanGraber (1940-2023) came to the Converse Home, an assisted living community in Burlington, Vermont, in 2019 due to the loss of both her legs. She was born and raised in the Burlington area and educated at the University of Vermont and the University of Iowa. Her first career was as an academic, specializing in teaching rhetoric. After which, she transitioned into positions in risk management at Vermont hospitals, primarily the Fanny Allen Hospital in Colchester, Vermont. She was a past president of the New Hampshire and Vermont Society for Healthcare Risk Management in 1991-1992.
At the time of this interview, the Converse Home in Burlington, Vermont, was the oldest assisted living community in Vermont, having been in operation for over 130 years.
Sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-251676-OMS-22.
Date
2023-03-28
Subject
Source
Collecting COVID-19: A Vermont Story Project
Identifier
AudioFileCOVID-064
Format
MP3
WAV
Type
Audio file
Rights
Permission to publish material from the Collecting COVID-19: A Vermont Story Project may be obtained from the Vermont Historical Society.
Interviewer
Gustin, Amanda Kay
Interviewee
VanGraber, Marilyn, 1940-2023
Duration
42 min., 41 sec.
Repository
Vermont Historical Society Library, 60 Washington Street, Barre, VT 05641-4215
Collection
Citation
“Oral history interview with Marilyn VanGraber,” Digital Vermont: A Project of the Vermont Historical Society, accessed April 3, 2025, https://digitalvermont.org/vtcovid/AudioFileCOVID-064.