Volume One, Number Four -- April 1971

Volume 1, Number 4 of Women's Press is a snapshot of an exhilarating, difficult, intense time. Abortion is still illegal, although an abortion rights movement is growing in Oregon and throughout the United States. The federal department of Health, Education, and Welfare has conducted an investigation into sex discrimination at the University of Oregon. The US war in Indochina still rages, and feminist women are among the activists working to end it.

Table of Contents (With Links to Articles)

• Cover
• Women of Laos Photo Essay -- Page 1
• Editorial Page -- Page 2
• "Mutual Birth Control and Sexual Enjoyment" -- Page 2
• "International Women's Day with the Pageant Players" -- Page 3
• Welfare Rights and Legalized Prostitution -- Page 3
• "H.E.W. and the U. of O." -- Pages 4-5
• "Why Call a Repairman?" (How to change a fuse) -- Pages 4-5
• Poetry and Reviews -- Page 6
• News about Oregon's Abortion Law -- Page 7
• Personal Experiences of Abortion and Unwed Motherhood Page 8 and Page 9
• "Toys for Tots?" -- Page 10
• "Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street" --  Page 10
• Herstory ("Women, the Original Healers" and two other short articles) -- Page 11
• Women and Resistance to the Vietnam War -- Pages 12 -13
• "Angela Davis Answers Questions in Harlem" -- Page 14
• Information  -- Page 15

Volume One, Number Three: March 1971

Here is Volume 1, Number 3 of Women's Press,  published in Eugene, Oregon in March 1971.

Table of Contents (With Links to Articles)

• Cover --  Page 1
• Articles on sex discrimination and the law -- Page 2
• Women at meeting of Chicana/o organizers at Nyssa -- Page 3
• Articles about living peacefully with nature -- Page 4
• Handywoman: Bicycle repair and how to repair an appliance cord -- Page 5
• Things men can do (to support women's liberation) -- Page 6
• Day Care Chart (of Eugene, OR day care providers) -- Page 7
• Day care articles -- Page 8 and Page 9
• History of University of Oregon student child-care co-op -- Page 10
• "A Golden Canary Sings" -- first-person account from former topless waitress -- Page 10
• Letters -- Page 10
• Women and the [Vietnam] War -- Page 11
• Articles on Bernadette Devlin, moulding workers strike, and poetry -- Page 12
• Reviews -- Page 13
• "Bible Stories" -- Page 14
• Information and Classified Ads -- Page 15
• "International Women's Day" -- Page 16
• "Tales of Suffrage" -- Page 16
• "Grandma Brown": How she crossed the prairie to Oregon City in 1846 -- Page 16

I was interested (though not surprised, actually) that my web browser's spell checker in the year 2013 still did not recognize the word "handywoman." For those of you who might not be familiar with Bernadette Devlin, she is an Irish socialist and former member of the United Kingdom Parliament. A link to her Wikipedia biography is here.

Volume One, Number Two: January/February 1971

Here is Volume One, Number Two of Women's Press, a grassroots feminist newspaper from Eugene, Oregon. On page one it says that it is the issue for January/February1971, but this may not be right. The collective published twelve different papers in its first volume.

Please note that the front-page article, "The Politics of Housework" by Pat Mainardi, was not original to Women's Press. According to the Chicago Women's Liberation Union Herstory Project, Pat Mainardi was a member of the New York radical feminist group Redstockings, which originally published this well-known essay in 1970. However, it looks as if the delightful drawings that accompany the piece are the original work of Women's Press graphic artist Karen daHinten.

Table of Contents (With Links to Articles):

• The Politics of Housework by Pat Mainardi -- Page 1 (continues on Pages 6 and 7).
• Editorials -- Page 2
• Letters  and short articles on sexism, abortion, Planned Parenthood -- Page 3
• Articles -- "Women Face Medical Indifference" -- Page 4
• Essay "Beauty and the Beast" and Poetry -- Page 5
• "Children's Corner" and articles on job-sharing and the Gay People's Alliance -- Page 8
• Articles: "Angela [Davis] Shackled" and "Karate" -- Page 9
• Interview with Jane Fonda by "Several Atlanta Women's Groups" -- Page 10
• Book Reviews -- Page 10
• Information and Classifieds -- Page 11
• "Woman Arrested in Riot" (Biography of Dr. Marie Equi) -- Page 12

Incidentally, if you've not heard of Marie Equi, she was a fascinating feminist, anarchist and abortion provider who lived from 1872-1952. Born in Massachusetts, she graduated from the University of Oregon Medical School in 1903. The Oregon History Project, the Oregon Encyclopedia, and Wikipedia all have biographies of Dr. Equi. According to the Oregon Encyclopedia,

With a courage and conviction unusual for her time, Equi openly enjoyed associations with other women that would readily be called "lesbian relationships" today. For fifteen years she lived with a niece of the Olympia Brewing Company founder, and she adopted an infant girl whom the two women raised.

Volume One, Number One: December 1970

If you follow this link you can read Volume 1, Number 1 of Women's Press,  published in Eugene, Oregon in 1970.