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Spring 2011 : Fail
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Oregon Humanities: Spring 2011
Why I Give
Betty Roberts values Oregon Humanities' community connection
Betty Roberts’s career includes many “firsts”: first woman to hold seats in the Oregon House of Representatives (1964) and in the Oregon State Senate (1968); first woman appointed to the Oregon Court of Appeals (1976); first woman appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court (1982). Even her losses were victories—she campaigned unsuccessfully to be the first woman governor of Oregon in 1974.
Although Roberts had supporters along the way, this run of accomplishments was significant in light of the popular mid-twentieth-century opinion that women belonged at home, not in the courtroom. “For many years,” says Roberts, “I realized my experiences—particularly women’s issues—were an important period in the history of Oregon and nationally.”
Discrimination she experienced as a justice convinced her that she needed to document it. Roberts had worked on a manuscript for more than a decade before she consulted Oregon State University Press, whose staff introduced her to freelance editor Gail Wells (also an Oregon Humanities Conversation Project leader). Together, they honed the final version of With Grit and By Grace, published in 2008.
She’s considering a new project to commemorate the centennial of women’s suffrage. She supports Oregon Humanities and values the magazine. “Reading it connects me with the writing community,” Roberts says. “I feel I can speak the writers’ language, and it enriches my own attitudes about writing.”
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Staff, advisors, etc.
- Kathleen Holt
- Editor
- McGuire Barber Design
- Graphic design
- Eloise Holland
- Communications Coordinator
- Allison Dubinsky
- Copy editor
- Editorial Advisory Board
- Tom Booth
- Brian Doyle
- Debra Gwartney
- Julia Heydon
- Guy Maynard
- Win McCormack
- Kathleen Dean Moore
- Camela Raymond
- Kate Sage
- Rich Wandschneider
- Dave Weich
Oregon Humanities magazine examines topics of broad public interest from a variety of perspectives and approaches. Recent issues of this publication have focused on stuff, nostalgia, and civility. Through good and thoughtful writing, Oregon Humanities magazine enriches our understanding of important subjects and stimulates conversation and reflection among readers, their friends, families, colleagues, and neighbors.
Contributors
Amanda Waldroupe
Amanda Waldroupe is a freelance journalist living in Portland. Whenever she fails, she buckles down and tries, tries again.
Debra Gwartney
Debra Gwartney is the author of the 2009 memoir Live Through This, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Oregon Book Award, and the PNBA award. She is currently working on a memoir about growing up in the West and the heritage of Narcissa Whitman, a project for which she received a research grant from the American Antiquarian Society. Debra lives on the McKenzie River with her husband, Barry Lopez, and is on the nonfiction faculty at Pacific University.
John Holloran
John Holloran lives in Portland and teaches at Oregon Episcopal School, where he is the chair of the history department. His last essay for Oregon Humanities was “Under a Spell” (Summer 2009).
Kim Stafford
Kim Stafford is the founding director of the Northwest Writing Institute at Lewis & Clark College and author of a dozen books of poetry and prose, including The Muses Among Us: Elegant Listening and Other Pleasures of the Writer’s Craft. This essay is a section from his book-in-progress, 100 Tricks Every Boy Can Do.
Kristy Athens
Kristy Athens’ nonfiction and short fiction have been published in a number of magazines, newspapers, and literary journals, most recently High Desert Journal, Eclectic Flash, Diverse Voices Quarterly, and Five Fishes Journal.
Matthew Stadler
Matthew Stadler is a writer and editor in Portland. He writes about cities and urbanism for journals including Volume, Netherlands Architecture Bulletin, Domus, and Camerawork. His book about urbanism, Deventer, is forthcoming from 010 Uitgevrij, in Rotterdam. In 2009 he cofounded Publication Studio (http://www.publicationstudio.biz) in Portland.
Sarah Gilbert
Sarah Gilbert is writing a book about mothers looking for emotional healing in food. In February, she decided to begin homeschooling her eldest son.
Susan Meyers
After growing up selling corndogs and cotton candy at carnivals up and down the West Coast, Susan Meyers extended her gypsy lifestyle by spending several years in Latin American before coming home to the Pacific Northwest. Her work has recently appeared in CALYX, Dogwood, Terra Incognita, and The Minnesota Review, and it has been the recipient of several awards, including a Fulbright Fellowship. She teaches writing at Oregon State University.
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