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Nadia M. Telsey (1947-2024) was born in Brooklyn, NY to Leon and Evelyn Telsey on May 2, 1947. She was raised in Mamaroneck, NY and graduated from Rye Neck High School. She attended Bryn Mawr College and then transferred to Barnard College. In 1969 Telsey graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor's in Anthropology. She went on to obtain a Master's in Education from Bank Street College of Education in 1981.
Telsey was leading figure in the emerging field of women's self-defense and pioneered the use of verbal and emotional strategies rather than only physical. In the 1970s she co-founded Brooklyn Women's Martial Arts, later the Center for Anti-Violence Education, where she taught empowerment self-defense.
After moving to Eugene in 1981, Telsey engaged in social justice and LGBTQ+ activism, helped organize the Eugene Middle East Peace Group, and campaigned for racial justice. She joined the board of the Rape Crisis Center in Eugene and later served as its director. Telsey worked with Mobility International USA to design self-defense curriculum for the disabled. She spent many years on the Oregon Attorney General's Sexual Assault Task Force. She also worked with women internationally, including a six-week trip to Mongolia to establish a domestic violence center there.
Telsey taught self-defense at the University of Oregon for 17 years. She wrote the workbook Self Defense from the Inside Out, which was used for classes at the UO and in the community. She was also a long-time member of the Pacific Association of Women Martial Artists and the National Women's Martial Arts Federation. She passed away on February 28, 2024 and was survived by her wife, Diane DePaolis.
Nadia Telsey (1947-2024) was a self-defense teacher and social justice activist. This collection contains her self-defense teaching files, personal files, and photographs.
Series 1 contains self-defense teaching files. These include workshops and courses; evaluations, forms, questionnaires, pre- and post-tests; facilitator and SASS teacher training files; handouts and resources; notes, research, and conference materials; correspondence and public relations materials. Also included are files from Telsey's work on self-defense teaching for people with disabilities; files pertaining to Telsey's involvement in the Pacific Association of Women Martial Artists (PAWMA) and the National Women's Martial Arts Federation; files from Telsey's time on the Oregon Attorney General's Sexual Assault Task Force; files from the Brooklyn Women's Martial Arts (BWMA)/Center for Anti-Violence Education (CAE) which Telsey co-founded; files from Telsey's time as director of the Rape Crisis Network (RCN) and Sexual Assault Support Services (SASS); and Telsey's materials on teaching self-defense to teenagers and the Youth Empowered to End Sexual Violence program (YEESV). Also included is a series of VHS tapes related to Telsey's workbook Self- Defense from the Inside Out.
Series 2 contains personal files including biographical materials such as resumes, articles about Telsey, and her obituary. This series also includes materials related to Telsey's community activism and research on homophobia, racism, and anti-semitism.
Series 3 contains photographs, many of which are related to the lesbian community in Eugene.