Donna Lee Taylor, That's When My Life Changed | Rogue Valley Women's Movement
Channel: Stories of Southern Oregon
Date: 22/12/2020

Donna Lee Taylor is third generation Southern Oregon, and her aunt, Anne Bateman Gorby was active in the suffragist movement and would influence Taylor's perspective.

Like many who have grown up in small towns, Donna Lee Taylor moved away from Southern Oregon, seeking freedom and new perspectives. She found a new life in the Bay Area, but that life was full of hazards and dangers. Struggling to keep herself going, one day she happened on a consciousness raising group, and these women, that moment changed her life.

Taylor's return to Southern Oregon in 1971 brought her to Southern Oregon College where she met people like Dr. Betty Harbert and like-minded students who would celebrate their lives and choices, and work together for social change. Taylor participated in the first woman's gathering in Southern Oregon and helped craft the first woman's history week recognition in 1972. Participation, Taylor admits, was small but she was still learning how to get the word out. Not long after Taylor gained the support of the City of Ashland and the Southern Oregon Historical Society to place a plaque in Lithia Park to honor the women of Ashland's history. The plaque reads: IN RECOGNITION OF THE WOMEN OF THE CHAUTAUQUA CLUB AND THE WOMAN'S CIVIC IMPROVEMENT CLUB WHO, WITH VISION AND TENACITY, BEGAN IN 1902 TO SHAPE THE UNIQUENESS OF ASHLAND. That plaque was just steps away from the marker lauding the founding fathers of Ashland, placed years ago. Later, Taylor would organize the Women in the 80s conference at Southern Oregon College, found the Dr. Betty Harbert Women's Studies Collection at the SOC library and graduate to work in not-for-profit agencies.

Donna Lee Taylor today writes poetry, tells stories of herself and healing and loves life. She is grateful for every experience her journey has brought.

This episode of the Stories of Southern Oregon is made possible in part by a grant from the Oregon Heritage Commission to document second wave feminism in Southern Oregon. Photographs and more information about the Rogue Valley Women's Movement can be found in the University Archives and Special Collections at Southern Oregon University's Hannon Library.

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