Diane McDonald papers related to Rajneesh

Diane McDonald, nee Diane Laree Hill, was born July 11, 1951 in Ontario, Oregon. She later moved to Madras and worked as a legal secretary and youth leader for the Oregon State Extension Service in Jefferson County. She married Craig L. McDonald in 1975 and had two children. McDonald was active with the Antelope Defense Fund and Citizens for Constitutional Cities, grassroots groups that opposed the Rajneesh presence in Eastern Oregon. She filed a child abuse and neglect complaint against followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in 1985, which was dismissed following an investigation.

Sources: vital records in Ancestry.com and Familysearch.org; "Rajneeshee critic tells motive for accusations," by Bill Graves, The Bulletin, August 8, 1985, Page C4; "Rajneesh child abuse complaint thrown out," The Bulletin, June 26, 1985, page B1.

In 1981, followers of Indian spiritual guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (popularly known as Rajneeshees) established a religious settlement on the 64,000-acre Muddy Ranch in southern Wasco County. Rajneeshees also moved to the nearby town of Antelope and organized a voting majority, renaming the town Rajneesh.

Sources: "Rajneeshees," by Carl Abbott, Oregon Encyclopedia, https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/rajneeshees/;