The Stumptown Stories series, geared to everyone who loves this city we live in, takes place most Tuesdays at Jack London bar (basement of the Rialto, SW 4th and Alder). Free to get in, but must be 21 or over – there’s a full bar!
This Tuesday, August 23, 2011, the topic is The Stormy Petrel of Portland: The story of Dr. Marie Equi.
Among the many fascinating people in Portland’s Progressive Era history, Dr. Marie Equi stands out. She was a suffragist, an advocate for labor rights, and a vocal political agitator against World War I, imperialism, and profiteering. As a medical doctor, she treated women and children in the Portland working-class neighborhoods—often for free—and was one of the few Portland physicians to provide birth control and abortions. She was also openly gay—a fact that came up in her indictment by the federal government for “sedition” for her anti-war activities when the U.S. prosecutor called her an “unsexed woman.”
The presenter is Portland Community College instructor Heather Mayer, who is currently working on her dissertation: Beyond the Rebel Girl: Women and the Industrial Workers of the World in the Pacific Northwest, 1905-1924.
Doors open at 5pm, presentation begins at 7:30pm.
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