PSU Magazine Winter 2005

The walk will also honor Maurine Neuberger, Oregon's first woman U.S. senator, who fought for cigarette warning labels and won. margarine available at that time to cre– ate a more palatable product. Her pre– sentation helped thwart the powerful dairy lobby, which sought to ban pre– mixed margarine. ln 1954, Richard went on Lo serve in the U.S. Senate. He died before his term was over, and Maurine ran against a former governor for the seat. She won and served from 1960 to 1967, helping write legislation requir– ing the first cigarette warning label at the federal level, calling for pollution controls on automobiles, and attacking bedding manufacturers for selling blankets that were not [lame-resistant. D espite these accomplishments, Brenner could find no prominent land– mark in Portland named for Maurine Neuberger. (Neuberger Hall is named for her husband, although PSU awards an endowed scholarship in both their names.) In fact, Brenner found only one building on PSU's campus, the Helen Gordon Child Development Center, named for a woman. Of Portland's 300 or so parks, Brenner says, only five are named for women. ''What impact does it have on stu– dents to study at a place where men are honored , yet nowhere are women?" asks Brenner. "What impact does it have on a city's residents if the physical environment has almost no women honored 1" h ese ideas helped shape the devel– opment of the Walk of the Heroines, which is part of the University's $100 million Building Our Future campaign. The space will be an elegant outdoor living room with intricate paving based on traditional patterns from Africa and designed by Portland artist Adriene Cruz. A stream of water pours out of a fountain , and grassy sanctuaries offer benches and tables for gathering. A small outdoor stage encourages public events. And a computer kiosk offers access to a Web site feaLUring the stories of the women honored. "The educational kiosk is the very heart and soul of the project," says Brenner. "It's what makes the project unique. It's not just names on the wall. People have the opportunity to find out about each person. " The computer kiosk serves as a central focal point for the walk, serving perhaps as a gathering place for a fam– ily celebrating the birthday of a loved one honored on the walk or an exhibit showcasing contemporary Oregon women who have made contributions in specific fields. And school children can use the Web site to research women they find honored on the walk. Women like Mother Joseph, who was instrumental in building 29 hospi– tals, schools, and missions in the Northwest, and helped found what became the Providence Health System. "Mother Joseph-what a character," says Brenner. "The story just kind of blew us all away. I had never heard of her. What's so striking was we knew so little about her." Mother Joseph of the Sacred Heart, a Sister of Providence, was born in 1823 in Canada. She journeyed Lo the Washington Territory in 1856 and for 46 years worked to build-some– times literally-institutions of edu– cation, health care, and social service. She was known to don a tool belt and work beside the con– struction workers-once, according to legend-single handedly disman– tling and rebuilding a chimney foundation that didn't meet her standards. "It's important for men and women who live in a city," says Brenner, "to feel that women and men have made important contribu– tions and have done things worth honoring. I hope people will find out things about our city like I did. It's an incredibly rich , hidden his– tory that needs to be made visible and allowed to inspire people. " D (Melissa Siei11ege1; a Portland freelance write 1; wrote the articles "Telling the Sto1y of Oregon Judaism" and "Com– ing to a Theater Near You?" for the fall 2004 PSU Magazine.) Mother Joseph, a founder of the Providence Health System in the 1800s, will have her story told in the walk's computer kiosk. WINTER 2005 PSU MAGAZINE 13