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Bonnie Tinker collection, 1980-2010

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Tinker, Bonnie.
Title
Bonnie Tinker collection
Dates
1980-2010 (inclusive)
Quantity
20 cubic feet, (44 document cases, 1 oversize folder)
Collection Number
Coll 209
Summary
Papers of Bonnie Tinker, a political activist of Portland, Oregon, who championed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights; headed the organization Love Makes a Family, devoted to same-sex families; and hosted a radio program by the same name. Materials date mostly from the late 1990s and 2000s and consist of records of Love Makes a Family and of other organizations and activities in which Tinker participated.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

Bonnie Jeanne Tinker was a political activist who championed the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people and headed the Portland, Oregon organization Love Makes a Family devoted to same-sex families. She was born in 1948 in Boone, Iowa, the daughter of a Methodist minister and official of the American Friends Service Committee who was active in the civil rights and anti-war movements. Her mother, Lorena Jeanne Tinker, held a PhD in psychology. The Tinkers became well-known through their successful U.S. Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines School Board, which affirmed the right of students to wear black arm bands in protest against the Vietnam war.

Bonnie Tinker became an activist at an early age, winning an NAACP essay contest with her entry "What the Emancipation Proclamation means to me." She studied at Grinnell College and CEDOC in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where she was influenced by liberation theology. She moved to Portland, Oregon, where she lived in the Red Emma Collective house and came out as a lesbian. In the early 1970s she worked with a group of Quakers to open Prescott House, a women's shelter and halfway house.

Eventually Bonnie and her partner, Sharon Keeler, adoped a 15 month old baby girl, Connie. They moved to the WHO Farm near Estacada, Oregon, becoming part of the "women's land" movement that was flourishing in southern Oregon in the 1970s. In the late 1970s, Bonnie served as the founding director of the Bradley-Angle House, a shelter for battered women. Around that time she met Sara Graham, who would become her life-long partner and wife. They were married in 2004 when same-sex marriage became briefly legal in Oregon. Together they raised Connie, along with Sara's son Josh, and in 1983 Bonnie gave birth to their son Alex.

In the early 1980s Bonnie worked with the American Friends Service Committee, served as the Portland staff person for the McKenzie River Gathering, was the Development Director for Volunteers of America (1985-1987). After studying photography and journalism at Portland Community College she worked as a free-lance photographer from 1987 to 1992. In 1993, after completing a documentary on same-sex marriage called "Love makes a family," she founded an organization by that name, headquartered in Portland. The group provided support for lesbian and gay families and became involved in political action, including the many campaigns against anti-gay measures promoted by the Oregon Citizens Alliance. She also hosted a radio talk show called "Love makes a family" on the Vancouver, Washington Christian radio station KKEY. She attended the International Women's Conference in Beijing, China, in 1995.

Among the many education and outreach efforts that Bonnie Tinker led was "Opening Hearts and Minds," a workshop devoted to non-violent speech, which was given throughout Oregon and elsewhere in the U.S. She continued her active involvement in civil rights and sexual minority movements and was arrested several times in protest actions. She also danced with the Rosetown Ramblers and was an enthusiastic bicyclist.

Bonnie Tinker died suddenly on July 2, 2009. She had been attending the Friends General Conference in Blacksburg, Virginia, and was hit by a truck while riding her bicycle.

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Content Description

The Bonnie Tinker papers date mostly from the late 1990s and 2000s and consist largely of materials related to her work with the organization Love Makes a Family, the radio program of the same name, and to her numerous activities on behalf of lesbian and gay families. Included are organizational records, newsletters, correspondence, fund raising and grant application materials, and numerous subject files. Other significant portions of the collection relate to Tinker's advocacy for queer families and youth, including the organizations YouthNet, the Sexual Minorities Parents Advisory Group (SMPAG), and her "Opening Hearts and Minds" workshops. There is also much material relating to various lesbian/gay related political campaigns in Oregon, including propositions 9 and 13 in the 1990s, and the fight for same-sex marriage in the late 1990s and 2000s. A large number of photographs of events in which Bonnie Tinker and Love Makes a Family participated are included at the end of the collection.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any use of reproductions. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use of reproductions may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright holders.

Preferred Citation

Bonnie Tinker papers, Coll 209, Oregon Historical Society Davies Family Research Library.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in the following series:

  • Series A: Biographical and personal materials, circa 1989-2010
  • Series B: Love Makes a Family communications, 1992-2009
  • Series C: Love Makes a Family board materials, 1988-2001
  • Series D: Fundraising, 1991-2009
  • Series E: "Love makes a family" radio program, 1993-1998
  • Series F: Organizations, 1980-2005
  • Series G: Events, 1988-2009
  • Series H: Political action, 1991-2009
  • Series I: Manuals, 1991-2004
  • Series J: Marriage, 1993-2006
  • Series K: Schools, 1987-2005
  • Series L: Youth, 1988-2003
  • Series M: General files, 1984-2007
  • Series N: Photographs, 1994-2005

Custodial History

Most of the materials were originally housed in the offices of Love Makes a Family, in Portland's Union Station. The collection came to the Oregon Historical Society via the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN).

Acquisition Information

Acquired May, 2012, Library Accession 27612.

Processing Note

Due to the sudden death of Bonnie Tinker, there was little time to adequately organize or weed the collection before it was packed for transfer. Much basic organization was carried out by Bonnie's wife Sara Graham, and additional organization was handled by students in Pat Young's Capstone class at Portland State University in 2011-2012. Since the original order of the materials was somewhat unclear, much of the final arrangment was arbitrary by necessity. Whenever possible, original folder contents were kept in tact and original folder titles were retained.

Separated Materials

The following materials have been separated to the artifacts collection of the Oregon Historical Society:

  • Hat: "Parents Flag : keeping families together"
  • T-shirt: "No on 9"
  • White lapel ribbons from the "White Ribbon Equality Campaign"
  • Bag of approximately 50 political buttons

Bibliography

Biographical information came largely from the memorial biography "Bonnie Jean Tinker" found in the first folder of the collection.

Related Materials

Audio recordings of Bonnie Tinker's radio program "Love Makes a Family" are housed in the Oregon Historical Society Davies Family Research Library and designated Accession 25973.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Children of gay parents
  • Gay liberation movement--Northwest, Pacific.
  • Gay parents
  • Gays--Northwest, Pacific.
  • Lesbians--Northwest, Pacific
  • Same-sex marriage

Personal Names

  • Tinker, Bonnie--Archives

Corporate Names

  • Love Makes a Family, Inc. (Portland, Oregon)
  • Family Health International (Organization). YouthNet Program
  • Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest
  • KKEY (Radio station : Vancouver, Wash.)
  • Sexual Minorities Parents Advisory Group

Form or Genre Terms

  • Letters (correspondence)
  • Photographs

Finding aid prepared by Geoffrey B. Wexler
2012

CC0

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