Rogue Valley, Oregon women were roused to action in the 1970s, spurred by national events and cultural transitions to organize social services that protected families and enabled women. Women were recognized as powerful change agents and gained the confidence to speak out about injustice, inequality and sexuality. Women listened and women acted, establishing Women in Transition in Ashland, Oregon at Southern Oregon University, Dunn House, the Jackson County Sexual Assault Response Team and many other agencies and services. Women wrote poetry, created art and some asserted themselves, with pride and confidence, as lesbian. Over the next 20-30 years, a generation of women created social systems and a cultural environment that sheltered and gave new opportunities to women, a movement that celebrated women, welcomed change and gave rise to a broader acceptance of gender diversity.
This project organizes a series of 2020 events in March 2020 that celebrate Women’s History Month, the Year of the Woman and the centennial of women’s suffrage. These events – a women’s art exhibit, an evening of spoken word and performance and a day of history – serve to launch and propel a community documentation project that is centered on the Rogue Valley Women’s Movement of the 1970s through the 1990s, the Stories of Southern Oregon Women.
Documenting the Rogue Valley Women’s Movement, thanks to funding from the Oregon Heritage Commission and the support of Jackson County Library Services, AAUW Ashland and Southern Oregon University.
Women’s History Month 2020, Events in Ashland and Medford, Oregon
Please note that as of March 7, 2020 most if not all of these events have been cancelled or postponed indefinitely due to public health concerns. Contact the host agency for more information
Curious about what’s going on in Oregon’s Rogue Valley for Women’s History Month? Well, get ready because there’s events everywhere, nearly every day! Here’s a sampling with link backs to organizers. Know of more women’s events in March 2020?
- February 22 in Ashland, Friday, Celebrating SOU’s Winning Women Athletes, SOU Lithia Pavilion, at half-time during the women’s and men’s home basketball games
- February 28 in Medford, Lauren Gunderson’s The Revolutionists directed by Gwen Overland at Collaborative Theatre Project, also February 29, 7:30p and March 1, 1:30p
- March 1 in Ashland, Steel Magnolias at Oregon Cabaret Theatre, through March 22
- March 3 in Ashland, Rosa Joshi’s Bring Down the House opens at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, 8p
- March 4 at Medford Branch Library and March 11 at Ashland Branch Library, Wednesdays, Windows in Time: Shirley Patton and Amy Blossom, Women’s Stories from As It Was, 12p
- March 4, Wednesday, A Little Night Music, Camelot Theatre benefit for Ashland and Medford Soroptomists, 8p
- March 5, Thursday, Vocational and Creative Well-Being: A Panel Discussion, Women’s Leadership Conference, Ashland Hills Inn and Suites, 6p.
- March 6, First Friday Open House, Juried HerStory Art Exhibit at Southern Oregon. University, Marion Ady Art Building, 6p. Submit your art by 2/10/20 to Jules
- March 7, Saturday, College Dreams and Grandmas-2-Go, AAUW Medford, Rogue Credit Union (McAndrews and Poplar), 10a
- March 12, Thursday, Women’s Voices: Writing, Reading, Performance at SOU Hannon Library, Meese Room, 4p
- March 14, Saturday, Researching Women’s Genealogy at Rogue Valley Genealogical Society, Medford, 10:30a
- VIRTUAL EVENT ONLY March 15, Sunday, A Day of Women’s History, 12p. PHYSICAL EVENT CANCELLED
- March 15, Sunday, Pankhurst by Jeannine Grizzard, Ashland Public Library, 4p. CANCELLED
- March 18, Wednesday, The WASP – Oregon’s Women Fly for their Country During WWII. Medford Public Library, 12p
- March 18, Wednesday, In Her Words: An Evening of Women’s Poetry, Rocky Knoll Vineyard and Dunbar Farms, Medford, 5p
- March 21, Saturday, Expo, Women Entrepreneurs of Southern Oregon, Inn at the Commons, Medford, 12p
- March 21, Saturday, Women With Wings Concert, First Presbyterian Church, Ashland, 7p
- March 22, Sunday, Food Politics and Power: the Cookbooks of Mrs. Mark O. Hatfield, Ashland Public Library, Gresham Room, 1p
- March 23, Monday, One Fine Day: Films on the History of Women’s Suffrage at Ashland Public Library, 6p
- POSTPONED TO FALL March 29, Sunday, Southern Oregon Women’s March and flash mob dance Break the Chain, at the Medford Armory. POSTPONED TO FALL
- March 31, Tuesday, Quilts & Genealogy: Fay’s Royal Dresden Plate, Rogue Valley Genealogical Society, 1:30p
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