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Genny Nelson papers, 1952-2020

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Nelson, Genevieve
Title
Genny Nelson papers
Dates
1952-2020 (inclusive)
1972-2020 (bulk)
Quantity
8.5 cubic feet, (6 record cartons; 2 flat boxes (13x16); 1 flat box (20x24))
Collection Number
Coll 906
Summary
Papers of Genevieve "Genny" Nelson (1952-2020), including records relating to Sisters of the Road Café. Nelson was a co-founder of Sisters of the Road Café, and an advocate for people experiencing homelessness.
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

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Genevieve "Genny" Nelson was born in 1952 in Lewiston, Idaho, and studied at St. Mary's Academy and then Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. In the 1970s, Nelson and her friend Sandy Gooch ran a women's center named Boxcar Bertha's in Portland. When the federal grant that funded Boxcar Bertha's ran out, Nelson and Gooch, wanting to establish an alternative to the soup kitchens and missions that they felt to be paternalistic and impersonal, founded Sisters of the Road Café in 1979. The café provided a meal and a drink to unhoused people for $1.25, a price that did not change with inflation. Customers could also pay with food stamps, meal cards, and barter cards, or earn the meal by working at the café for 15 minutes. In 1987, Nelson successfully lobbied the U.S. Congress to pass a law allowing unhoused people to use food stamps to pay for prepared meals in nonprofit dining facilities. Sisters of the Road Café was also committed to the principles of nonviolence and the concept of "gentle personalism" rooted in the Catholic Workers movement.

Nelson retired from Sisters of the Road Café in 2009. She died in August 2020.

Sources: Articles in the Oregonian, December 11, 2009 and August 28, 2020.

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Content Description

The collection consists of the papers of Genevieve "Genny" Nelson, co-founder of the non-profit Sisters of the Road Café. The bulk of the collection is Nelson's personal files. These are a mixture of Nelson's personal papers, including her day planners, journals, and correspondence, as well as records relating to her work and advocacy, particularly her work as executive director of Sisters of the Road Café. Unless otherwise noted, these files are in the original order that they were in at the time of donation to the Oregon Historical Society Research Library, which is largely (though not entirely) chronological.

The collection also includes a substantial amount of Sisters of the Road Café records, including records relating to "Voices from the Street: Truths about Homelessness from Sisters of the Road," a book of interviews with unhoused people that Sisters of the Road produced and that Jessica P. Morrell edited. Other materials in the collection include: Materials relating to Nelson's other work and advocacy, including published materials about homelessness that she compiled; articles, books, certificates, and awards relating to recognition for Nelson's work; and personal ephemera, photographs, and writings, including a draft for a memoir.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Genny Nelson papers, Coll 906, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Restrictions on Use

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.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Collection is arranged in five series: Series 1. Files; Series 2. Sisters of the Road Café records; Series 3. Other work and advocacy, and publications about homelessness; Series 4. Recognition; Series 5. Personal ephemera, photographs, and writings.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Alodie Didier, August 2022 (RL2022-130).

Preservation Note

Digital files, audiocassettes, and VHS videocassettes require specialized equipment to access. Contact library staff for assistance.

Processing Note

Unless otherwise noted, materials in Series 1. Files were kept in original order. All original file folders in the collection were retained. In cases where the original label of the file folder requires further clarification, the updated title is written on the folder's front flap.

Original plaques and awards were discarded for preservation reasons; photocopies or photographs of them were retained for the collection. Titles for videos in the collection were transcribed from labels on the media, and contents have not been verified by library staff.

Related Materials

Other materials relating to Sisters of the Road Café at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library are in the vertical file Portland - Charities - Sisters of the Road Cafe.

Separated Materials

Plaque awarded to Nelson by the Skanner newspaper and button for Sisters of the Road Café's 40th anniversary were separated to Museum Collections, Oregon Historical Society.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Jeffrey A. Hayes
2022

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