The stories of women involved in the contemporary women's movement as it played out in Sonoma County from 1960 to 1985 is the subject of a new exhibit at the Sonoma State University Library Art Gallery from Aug. 15-Sept. 28.
"A Fine and Long Tradition: Stories from the Contemporary Women's Movement" is funded by the California Council for the Humanities' "California Stories Initiative" and is coordinated by Michelle Jolly, SSU Professor of History.
Jolly leads a discussion on Sept. 20 at noon in the library. A reception for the project will be held in the University Library Art Gallery on Sept. 20 from 5-6:30 p.m. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Over the past year, Jolly and her history students have been conducting interviews as part of the Sonoma County Women's Oral History Project. Their work contributes much to the exhibit which includes:
- listening stations where visitors can listen to excerpts from the interviews
- newspapers and ephemera from the women's movement in Sonoma County
- a series of timelines highlighting aspects of the women's movement in Sonoma County between 1960 and 1985
- photographs of many women who participated in the Sonoma County women's movement and of the Sonoma State University students who have been gathering their stories
In addition, visitors to the gallery are invited to contribute to this on-going effort to collect the stories of the women's movement in Sonoma County from 1960-1985 by adding comments to the timeline or telling their stories in the exhibit's blog.
The story of activists in Sonoma County is a reminder, says Jolly, that while the women's movement may have had a national impact, its grassroots were in towns and counties across the country who initiated the ideas and programs that fueled national trends.
The women who serve as the focus of this project were central figures of the women's movement in Sonoma County, helping to create and sustain woman-centered organizations, many of which continue to exist today.
For women in Sonoma County, as elsewhere, the personal was truly political, says Jolly. "Women in classrooms, kitchens, and county offices shared their concerns and their ideas with one another and began to create woman-centered and women's history-centered organizations."
These included the National Women's History Project, Women's History Week, the Sitting Room, the Women's Studies program at Sonoma State University, Women's Voices, Clairelight Bookstore, Las Mujeres Unidas, and the Displaced Homemakers Project, among others.
Although a few attempts have been made over the years to collect the stories of the women who were involved in the women's movement in Sonoma County, no systematic effort had been made until now to collect, analyze, and tell their stories.
"Now, many of the activists who were deeply involved in the creation of Sonoma County's many woman-centered organizations are aging, moving away, and dying. Because many of these women are in their sixties and seventies, the time to hear them tell their stories is now," Jolly says.
The Sonoma County Women's Oral History Project is the brainchild of Mary Ruthsdotter, co-founder and former Projects Director of the National Women's History Project. It is funded by grants from the California Council for the Humanities' California Stories Initiative and by the School of Social Sciences at SSU.
For more information, contact Michelle Jolly at (707) 664-2461 or e-mail michelle.jolly@sonoma.edu.
ABOVE, Marchers at the Women's History Week Parade, Santa Rosa, March 1982. National Women's History Week, which later became National Women's History Month, originated in Sonoma County. One of many photos included in the upcoming Sonoma State University Library exhibit opening in August. (Photo by Mary Ruthdotter)
Fifteen-year old Christopher Mercer, a Healdsburg High School junior, and his fellow scholars enter the social studies classroom eagerly, moving directly into their assigned seats.
At each group's station lie the bright, colorful, vibrant maps of Darfur and surrounding countries that the high school students are constructing.
Mercer and more than 164 other high school scholars are part of Sonoma State University's Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science programs that are embracing the theme of "Understanding Issues and Finding Solutions in Sudan and Surrounding Countries" for the 2007 Summer Academy on campus.
The young scholars are researching the crisis in Darfur and neighboring African countries to gain a better understanding of the conflict and other tragedies engulfing the area. "I want to start a program at my school to help raise awareness of what is going on in Sudan and to get the community involved," says Mercer.
This past weekend, as part of their community service project for this summer the scholars participated in the annual AIDS walk in San Francisco and were the largest youth group from Sonoma County to participate in the 10-kilometer walk.
Other outings this summer include tours of universities throughout California, workshops on how to get into college, and trips to the Museum of African Diaspora and the Laguna water treatment plant in Santa Rosa.
On last day of UBS and UBMS summer academy, July 26 from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., the program hosts an exposition at the campus lakes area with class presentations of the research the scholars have developed on Darfur, posters
campaigning to save Darfur, and maps of Sudan painted on canvas boards.
The UB and UBMS programs make up TRIO, a federally-funded educational equity programs, established under Title IV of the Higher Education Act in 1965, in an effort to provide educational opportunities for all Americans, serves low-income first generation scholars from an array of culturally diverse backgrounds who attend high schools in Sonoma County.
They provide pre-collegiate programs that offer rigorous academic instruction, individual and group tutoring, career education, college placement and intellectual/cultural activities for scholars in grades 9-12.
The four-year programs are designed to academically prepare scholars to pursue higher education at a four-year college or university, and to graduate with a baccalaureate degree and beyond.
"This program really makes me feel like low-income/first generation scholars can rise above the norm and excel into a better profession," says Eric Huerta Perez, 14, a sophomore at Petaluma High School.
"Since this program is so diverse, I see people of all ethnicities taking pride in their futures and it makes me proud."
"It's a great program. They gave me confidence in myself to be successful in my academics and with my future endeavors," says Cassandra Molina, 15, a Healdsburg High School junior.
"To be honest, if I was not a part of this program I would not even be in high school. This program has really helped me academically and I am truly thankful," says Brett Allegra, 15, a sophomore at Healdsburg High School.
Over the past two years, 100% of the senior high school classes from UB have enrolled in a higher-education institutions, with 72% of the graduating class of 2007 admitted to a four-year college or university.
For more information on the UB and UBMS programs, contact Howard Willis, Director, (707) 664-4073.
- Whitney Bowens
