Archives West Finding Aid

The majority of periodicals in this collection were collected and donated by Ruth and Jean Mountaingrove of Wolf Creek, Oregon. During the late 1970s and 1980s, they lived on their rustic women's land where lesbians pursued writing, publishing, and other arts. Together they published the periodical WomanSpirit Magazine, included in this collection. Ruth and Jean were keys in the development of the lesbian community in Southern Oregon. They became part of a nationwide web of women who created periodicals in order to maintain a record of the lives of lesbians, and to build community through intellectual and artistic exchanges. This collection of periodicals was born out of the exchanges between WomanSpirit Magazine and other lesbian and feminist groups.

Diverse groups of feminist and lesbian publishers surfaced in the early 1970s with similar visions of building a more accurate, thorough history. This collection brings together themes of lesbian and feminist community building, political activism, separatism, and spirituality. A huge feminist and lesbian publishing wave began after 1969 as lesbians and feminists were participants in and influenced by Stonewall and civil rights events. Long-distance consciousness raising and broadening of communities were two immediate effects of feminist and lesbian publications and exchanges.

Periodical exchanges were informally established with the intent of communicating in the most cost-effective manner. Friends and publishers would send copies of the latest news to women with notes scrawled on the cover, some as brief as "Exchange, sister?" After several issues, some publishers found it necessary to solicit subscriptions and cease the exchange. The bulk of periodicals was assembled through many women's volunteer hours and donated services of mimeographing, sorting, stapling, addressing and stamping. For those who could afford the cost, printing houses did most of the job. Some publishers enlisted the aid of paid advertisements, thus creating sometimes more aesthetically pleasing items while others completely banned advertisements featuring anything male-made on the premise of "by women, for women." Universities and local women's centers doubled as publishing houses and contributed much needed financial support and stability.

The risks of publishing radical material coupled with financial burden led many periodicals to quick ends. So did theft and sabotage. It is a testament to united strength and determination that surviving periodicals have established a place in lesbian and feminist history as records of social activity and community development.