Collection is open for research.
Gift of Julia M. Allen, October 2023 (RL2023-071).
Julia M. Allen began graduate studies in English at Portland State University in Oregon in 1972. At the same time, she became active in the university's Women's Union, and was among a coalition of students and faculty who worked to establish the Women's Studies Certificate Program (later the the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department), which the Oregon state Board of Higher Education granted in September 1975. After receiving her degree, Allen taught at Portland State University until 1984.
Sources: Information provided by Julia M. Allen in 2023; "Entrance to College Modified," Oregonian, September 24, 1975; "Coordinator Plans Studies," Oregonian, March 17, 1976.
A Woman's Place was a feminist bookstore in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1973 on SE Grand Avenue, it changed locations several times before moving to NE Broadway in 1986. It closed in the early 1990s.
Sources: "Bookstore subtlety promotes feminism," Oregonian, April 8, 1987; "In Other Words," Oregonian, October 29, 1993.
Julia M. Allen collection of feminist publications, flyers, and posters, Coll 1023, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
One flyer was removed from a frame during processing for preservation purposes.
The collection contains of publications, flyers, and posters relating to women and feminism in the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in Portland, Oregon. The materials were compiled by Julia M. Allen, a graduate student and then professor at Portland State University.
A significant portion of the collection consists of newsletters from A Woman's Place, a feminist bookstore in Portland, dating from 1978 to early 1981. These newsletters include news and announcements about local women's groups and events, book reviews, classified advertisements, and poetry. In addition to the bookstore newsletter, there are several issues of Calyx, a women's literature and art journal published in Corvallis, Oregon; and two issues of Rag Times, a feminist monthly published in Portland. The collection also includes programs for the 2nd Annual Pacific Northwest Women's Music Festival and for "Building Community: Common Ground for the Future," a lesbian conference in Portland; a poster for Calyx; and flyers and posters for events. Some of the events represented in the flyers, posters, and programs or referenced in the newsletters were either organized by or attended by members of the Portland State University Women's Studies Certificate Program.
Other materials in the collection consist of a flyer against the Trojan nuclear plant; Muriel Rukeyser's poem "Myth"; a brochure for the band Izquierda; and an issue of Willamette Week with an article about Izquierda.
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.