Celebrate Women's History Month at Portland State University on March 17 with talk by Jewel Lansing

March 14, 2009 - PRLog -- For the Women's History Month at Portand State University, the Friends of History has invited public servant, politician, author and historian Jewel Lansing to Portland State Universiy to read from her recent work "Portland: People, Politics and Power:- 1851-2001." She will also be reading from her 2007 book My Montana: A History and Memoir- 1930-1950 which describes her growing-up years in rural Montana. The program will take place in Smith Memorial Center Room 238 starting at 7:30pm, and is free and open to the public. There will be a small reception just before the start of the program.

Jewel Lansing has been a women's rights trailblazer all of her life. Up until her retirement from public service in 1986, Lansing helped to break the "glass ceiling" for women seeking election to offices in Portland and Multnomah County offices:
---In 1974, Jewel  was the First woman ever elected to a Multnomah County government office.
---in 1983, Jewel was only the fifth woman to serve as an elected City of Portland official
---in 1976 and 1980, Jewel won the Democratic primary for Oregon State Treasurer, inspiring other women to run for elective office, but lost both times by a narrow margin in the general election. When she ran in 1976, no woman had yet been elected to statewide state offices. Barbara Roberts, Oregon's first woman governor would be sworn into office in 1991.

Prior to her political career, Jewel worked as a certified public accountant and taught school. She received a bachelor's degree in journalism 1952 from the University of Montana and a master's degree in education in 1954 from Stanford University. Jewel spent a year working for the CIA while stationed in Washington D.C. Married for 53 years to law professor Ron Lansing, Jewel has called Portland her home since moving here in 1961.

At the March 17, 2009 program, Jewel will be reading from her best known work "Portland: People, Politics and Power- 1851-2001, a highly acclaimed 150 year history of the "City of Roses"  that is available from the Oregon State University Press through this link; http://oregonstate.edu/dept/press/o-p/Portland.html

"Portland: People, Politics and Power- 1851-2001 has been called  the definitive book on Portland's political history, beginning in 1845 when a 16-lot townsite was laid out on the bank of the Willamette River and continuing through the sesquicentennial of Portland city government. Lansing shows that Portland's path to its present place as the twenty-eighth largest city in the United States, with a deserved reputation as one of the nation's most livable cities, has not always been smooth.Anyone with an interest in Portland, and in learning more about the individuals, events, and issues that have shaped it, will find this comprehensive history fascinating and informative.

"A fascinating history of Portland. This book is a vast source of information, yet is rich with amusing anecdotes and sparkling stories that bring Portland's past, from its beginnings to the events and issues of today, to vivid life. Every Portlander-every Oregonian-should read this wonderful book."
-Barbara Roberts, former Governor of Oregon

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The Friends of History is the non-profit support group, whose volunteers put on special events for the History Department at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.