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Donna Pollach photographs

 Collection
Identifier: Org. Lot 1430

Scope and Contents

The bulk of this collection represents the work of Donna Pollach, a photographer in Portland, Oregon, over 32 years, from 1970 to 2002, and consists of approximately 1,450 prints, 1,941 negatives, 349 contact sheets, and 243 slides, as well as a small number of audio and video recordings. The photographs reflect the breadth of Pollach's work, including portraiture and artistic photography; documentary photography; promotional photographs; and some travel and landscape photography. Major topics represented in her body of work include lesbian feminism, families, her community, political and social activism, and the arts, particularly performing arts. The contents of the collection also show that Pollach reused images for multiple projects; as a result, many photographs are found in more than one location in the collection. Some photographs in the collection were taken by Barbara Gundle, Nina Sabaroff, Carol Newhouse, and other photographers. These photographers are identified on prints and contact sheets where known.

A significant portion of Pollach's artistic work (Subseries 1.2) consists of images of lesbian families, created over three decades, which depict emerging and developing concepts of lesbian families and include partners, lovers, children, siblings, and solo portraits. In addition to these photographs, Pollach recorded a small amount of audio and video of friends and family members discussing family, children, community, Oregon’s 1992 Ballot Measure 9, and the effects of political movements on their lives. Families, including Pollach's own family, are also frequently depicted in her studio portrait work (Subseries 1.1). Pollach's documentary photographs focus on political, cultural, and social movements and events, as well as her neighborhood and community. These images include photographs she took of medical clinic festivals, Indian Occupations, women’s rights and gay pride marches, worker rights protests, anti-war and anti-nuclear protests, and human rights rallies. Also of note among her documentary work are images relating to the lesbian feminism movement; these include scenes of small-scale communal living at a house on Alder Street in Portland, Oregon (Subseries 1.4) and large-scale communal living projects such as the Oregon Women's Land Trust in Southern Oregon (Subseries 1.3), as well as prominent activists such as Ruth Mountaingrove, Jean Mountaingrove, Hawk Madrone, and Bethroot Gwynn. Promotional work (Subseries 1.5) that Pollach did for artists, musicians, and performers in Portland includes dancers José Brown and Nomi Azulay, and musicians Naomi Littlebear Morena, Kristan Aspen Knapp, and Mary Wings. A small portion of Pollach's photographs depict travel and landscape scenes, and images from her time as a photographer at the Washington Park Zoo (now named the Oregon Zoo).

The remainder of the materials in this collection consist of papers, ephemera, and some video. Most of these were collected by Pollach and her partner, Sue St. Michael, and relate to Pollach's career and to the gay rights activism with which she and St. Michael were involved. Among these materials are posters and publications that featured Pollach’s photography and a speech by Sue St. Michael for the 2005 Portland Women’s Studies Spring Celebration, which featured an exhibit of Pollach’s work. Materials relating to activism by Pollach and St. Michael include a resolution from the Portland Association of Teachers on protections for "sexual orientation" in Portland’s public schools (1992), political flyers concerning Ballot Measure 9, and a 1993 initiative petition from the No Special Rights Committee. Also included is an essay written by St. Michael which reflects on her struggles to retain legal custody of her son and the challenges of lesbian motherhood.

Dates

  • Creation: 1970-2005

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright for photographs produced by Donna Pollach is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed under a Creative Commons - Attribution, Non-Commercial, ShareAlike (BY-NC-SA) license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/. Attribution to Donna Pollach is required for use.

Copyright to other materials in the collection has not been determined, and permission for use may require authorization from copyright holders.

Biographical Note

Donna Pollach (1949-2002) was a photographer, community activist, and English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher for Portland Public Schools in Portland, Oregon. Pollach was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in Los Angeles, California. In 1969, Pollach married Cameron Suttles, and they moved to Portland, Oregon, where Pollach began to pursue a degree from Portland State University. While at PSU, she was involved in the establishment of the Women’s Studies program, and quickly became engaged in Portland’s emerging women’s movement. Suttles and Pollach later divorced, and Donna Pollach met her life partner, Sue St. Michael, in the mid-1970s. Together, they became active in many political and social movements and participated in demonstrations. Pollach photographed scenes at early gay pride marches, anti-war and anti-nuclear protests, and women’s rights rallies from the 1970s through the 1990s. She documented the lives of her family, friends, and community through portraits, publicity shoots, and photographs of art, community performances, and political demonstrations. Pollach was diagnosed with breast cancer in the late 1990s and documented her experience with treatment through self-portraits. She died on October 7, 2002.

Sources: "Photographs by Donna Pollach," by Sue St. Michael (Blurb, Inc., 2015); obituary for Pollach in the Oregonian, October 10, 2002, page C09; collection materials; correspondence with Sue St. Michael and Karen Pollach in 2023 and 2024.

Extent

5.35 Cubic Feet (12 letter document cases, 1 oversize flat box (25x19x2), 1 card file box (12x5x3), 5 videocassettes, 2 film reels)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Collection consists primarily of photographs taken from 1970-2002 by Donna Pollach, a photographer based in Portland, Oregon. The majority of the collection features portraits and community scenes that document people and activities in Portland's lesbian community, and the women's rights movement in the city. Other subjects include protest marches, performing arts, and animals at the Washington Park Zoo.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series:

  • Series 1: Original photography
    • Subseries 1.1: Portraits
    • Subseries 1.2: Artistic work
    • Subseries 1.3: Political and social movements
    • Subseries 1.4: Neighborhood and community
    • Subseries 1.5: Arts and promotional work
    • Subseries 1.6: Nature, animals and travel
  • Series 2: Materials related to Donna Pollach's work and activism
    • Subseries 2.1: Publications and posters featuring Donna Pollach photography
    • Subseries 2.2: Professional career
    • Subseries 2.3: Materials related to gay rights activism

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Researcher access to negatives, audiocassettes, videocassettes, and film reels in the collection is limited for preservation purposes. Digital access copies of the audiocassettes are available upon request. To inquire about accessing these materials, contact library staff. Fees may apply.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gifts of Susan St. Michael, August 2016 (Lib. Acc. 28907), June 2024 (RL2024-043), and March 2025 (RL2025-012).

Processing Information

Materials in the collection are arranged as much as possible by the categories originally used by Pollach. During processing, Oregon Historical Society Research Library staff performed some rearrangement for clarity and to reduce duplication. Pollach reused photographs in multiple projects during her career. While the collection has been arranged to reflect major categories of material, many images appear in more than one series or context. Some negative sheets and contact sheets contain mixed subject matter; to the extent possible, the materials have been sorted according to the most prominent discernible subject.

Title
Guide to the Donna Pollach photographs
Status
Completed
Author
Jax De La Cruz-Luera and Laura Cray
Date
2024
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library Repository

Contact:
1200 SW Park Ave.
Portland OR 97205 United States
5033065204
5033065240