Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Hope Hughes Pressman graduated from the University of Oregon in 1942 with a B.A. in history. She worked for the U.S. Army Air Transport Command during World War II. From 1966 to 1967, she served as Executive Secretary to the Governor’s Planning Council in Oregon and returned to the University to complete a M.S. in public affairs in 1973. She began working in the Office of the President and coordinated the University’s centennial celebration after completing her degree. In 1977, she was appointed the University of Oregon Foundation’s director of special programs and in 1989 she became the Foundation’s Associate Director.
As Associate Director of the University of Oregon Foundation, Pressman worked with alumnus and retired State Department official Carlton Savage to establish the Carlton and Wilberta Savage Chair in Peace and International Relations. Upon her retirement in 1990, Pressman was named Associate Director of Development Emerita. She served as chair of the board of the University of Oregon Art Museum after her retirement and participated in leadership roles in several city and state art organizations, including the Oregon Arts Commission, the Portland Art Museum, and the Eugene Arts Foundation.
Over the course of her career, Pressman received many awards and honors. As one of 10 outstanding Oregon women, she was honored by the Oregon March of Dimes with the White Rose Award in 1983. In 1987, she was honored with Eugene’s First Citizen award and with the Governor’s Award for the Arts in 1988. In 1990, she received the University of Oregon Pioneer award and in 1998 she was honored with the University of Oregon Distinguished Service Award.
The collection includes correspondence, clippings, financial records, speech and interview transcripts, meeting minutes, and files regarding the 1972 Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon.
The collection is divided into seven series organized alphabetically by organization title. Materials within each series are organized alphabetically by type of material. Series II, Series VI, and Series VII contain transcripts of speeches and/or interviews.
While Pressman did work for the University of Oregon, this collection does not contain materials dealing directly with her university positions. The material in many of the series is related to University of Oregon because the foundations Pressman worked for had dealings with the University.
Series I: Aid for Families with Dependent Children (A.D.C.) Association contains correspondence and manuals, 1971-1975.
Series II: Arts in Oregon Association consists of clippings, and other material that concerns post-presidential affairs as well as speeches and interviews, 1963-1972.
Series III: Committee for Supplementary Cultural Activities contains Olympic Trial information from the 1972 Trials in Eugene. Pressman was appointed to the Eugene Arts Foundation by University of Oregon President William Boyd to serve as the university's representative.
Series IV: Governor’s Planning Council for the Arts and Humanities contains hearing reports and meeting minutes, 1965-1969. Jarold Kieffer, who served as assistant to UO President Flemming, became the University of Oregon's representative on the Governor’s Planning Council for the Arts and Humanities.
Series V: Lane County Auditorium Association contains clippings, correspondence, and meeting minutes, 1967-1973.
Series VI: Oregon Arts Commission consists of financial and budget material, correspondence, fund raising files legislative administration committee work, meeting minutes, proposals, speeches, and interviews, 1967-1973
Series VII: Oregon International Sculpture Symposium contains correspondence, National Sculpture Center conference, and tape transcriptions, 1974-1977. Many people from the University of Oregon contributed to the symposium.