Aullie Allen

Aullie was interviewed by Armando Estrada on May 26, 2026, in Hudson, New York, as part of the Oral History Summer School 2026 cohort. Aullie grew up in southern Ohio in a large, close-knit family and describes their home as a “revolving door,” with their mother, siblings, extended family, friends, and partners constantly coming and going. As the eldest daughter, Aullie took on significant responsibility for caring for their younger siblings and helping support the household from a young age, experiences that shaped their strong sense of responsibility, productivity, and anxiety. They speak warmly about their grandmother, and about their father, who taught them to cook and connected them to Mexican culture through food, language, and family traditions, while also discussing their complicated relationship with another father figure who was incarcerated. Aullie recalls growing up surrounded by agricultural land but experiencing food insecurity, an experience that, alongside cooking with Alejandro and a college course on food inequality, led to their interest in agriculture, environmental geography, and food systems. They hope to pursue work or graduate study focused on connecting farmers, sustainable agricultural practices, policy, and oral history to address food deserts and food injustice. Aullie also discusses their academic path from a challenging early experience in school to earning a full scholarship to Colgate University, where research involving archives and interviews led them to Oral History Summer School. Outside academics, they describe discovering theater technology in high school and becoming a lighting designer, as well as working long hours at a family-owned pizza shop. Throughout the interview, Aullie reflects on how early caregiving shaped their relationships and sense of self, and on learning, after leaving home for college, that they can support the people they love without being responsible for them.