Mollie Hoben Speaks About the Founding of Minnesota Women’s Press (excerpts and video)

 

 

 

In 1984, there were a group of us who were working to plan to create the Women’s Press. We talked to a lot of people who knew  the publishing world, which we didn’t exactly and they all said, ‘Oh, that’s a nice idea, but it’ll never work.’

Glenda Martin and I were both busy in careers as educators, and we were already middle-aged at that point, yet we had a dream of doing something new — creating a newspaper that would tell women’s stories, that would present news of what was happening with women, what women were doing, what the meaning for women was. And we we were driven by a recognition that the world badly needed the perspectives and the wisdom of women, and the world wasn’t getting it. There was so much going on that was getting no attention. Everywhere we looked, we saw that the contributions women were striving to make were being restricted, put down, ignored. Women’s voices were silenced in countless ways, and we wanted to play a role in helping to break those silences.

With a group of stalwart and talented co dreamers, we set off on a year of planning what would become Minnesota Women’s Press. We spent a year planning — 1984 to 85 — and it was big, heavy work. We were creating two new things at once: one, a new newspaper, and two, a model for a mission-driven feminist business. Both of those were taxing, and we had endless decisions to make and lots to learn.

 

 

In April 1985 the first issue of the Women’s Press rolled off the presses; 30,000 I think, distributed to hundreds of sites around the Twin Cities. We all have this memory of the day the newspapers came, and this giant truck from the printer came up my little alley, because we didn’t know what to do with them, so we had to put them in the garage. It seemed like they were unloading bundles of papers forever. And then, of course, the next trick was how to get them to where people will find them. We were so excited, and also a little apprehensive. Could we really make this work?

We’d said to the world — some of whom were listening — we think women’s words are important and can make a difference in the world. Being aware of the challenges of trying to do that, I said I hoped we could last a year. Glenda said, ‘Well, we have to last at least 10 years.’ And now, 40 years later, Minnesota Women’s Press is still here, doing incredible work and taking on all kinds of interesting new challenges. It’s very satisfying to see this many people and thousands more who aren’t here, finding it important that this publication is still strong.

It has continued because of the people who’ve been involved through all the stages of this company and this publication: dedicated, energetic, imaginative, creative women who have signed on to the mission. The faithful readers, the dedicated staff and freelancers and interns, committed advertisers, allies in all arenas around the Twin Cities, in Minnesota.

I know that Glenda and I could dream as we did because of the legacy we inherited from generations of women before us. Women who pushed boundaries, who worked for justice, who told their stories, who dreamed of a better world. Through their legacy, their gift to us, these women who would never see the Women’s Press themselves, helped shape what it became. That’s the way it is. If you think about a story, when does your story start? Does it start the day you were born? No. Does it start the day with the meeting of your parents? Does it start with your grandmother and the trouble she lived through? You can go back and back, and we’re all connected in that chain of relationships and of lives lived, the people that we didn’t know personally, the people from the past whose legacy of courage and and hard work and success helped shape what the Women’s Press became.

Each new generation of people who have worked and committed to the Women’s Press have expanded and strengthened that endeavor. Kathy and Norma, as Mikki said, who took up the publishing reins from us, kept Minnesota Women’s Press alive in perilous economic times; we wouldn’t be here without the very hard and savvy work they did. They made the transition from a newspaper to a magazine. Mikki, now the current publisher, has expanded the reach of the business and created new communities of readers and activists all over the state.

The very first tagline for the Women’s Press that we came up with was: “A woman’s place is in the news.” Glenda and I looked in old closets to find T-shirts from the past. Glenda is wearing one that says “Feminist at Work: Minnesota Women’s Press.” We thought those were very audacious at the time. But the ante kept getting upped on the audacity schedule. Norma and Kathy came up with the tag line, “Changing the universe through women’s stories.” And now, how can we beat “Badass” energy from Mikki?

Thinking about lessons that we’ve learned from our Minnesota Women’s Press adventure, especially in these fraught times, they seem more important than ever. They’re simple, but most good things are:

1) If we need or want something that doesn’t yet exist, let’s think about making it ourselves. Don’t wait for others to do it for us.

2) Women with shared vision who work together create their own power, and they learn how to use it together.

3) Change doesn’t happen without taking risks. It’s scary, but that’s part of building our strength and being able to do work that is mission-driven, that has a purpose, that makes things better, that tries to make the world better

Glenda and I know that the task we had as publishers remains a task personally as well. You don’t grow out of these responsibilities, to define ourselves and the world in our own terms, to speak up and speak out, to share our beliefs and dreams with others.

When it’s hard to feel hopeful, as it is now, we remind ourselves that transforming the culture has always been an ongoing and heroic struggle. Getting that darn patriarchy smashed — we thought maybe we’d be part of the group that made that happen, and we can’t claim that — but it is the heroism of the women and men who are working to to support women’s stories and make the world better.

So Glenda and I say, thank the goddess for all the heroes who’ve chosen to be part of Minnesota Women’s Press over the years and all of you in this room. Thank you.