MJCC hosts oral historian

By Jewish Review

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Oral historian Sandy Polishuk will create a fascinating portrait of a life-long activist told through her own oral history in “Julia Ruuttila: The Making of an Extraordinary Life.” Kol Shalom, Community for Humanistic Judaism, will host this Oregon Chautauqua from the Oregon Council for the Humanities. This free, public program will take place at 10 a.m., March 2, at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center.

Polishuk will illuminate the history of 20th-century Oregon with this portrait of Julia Ruuttila. The daughter of a union organizer and a Socialist, Ruuttila honored her heritage by becoming a life-long activist for labor, peace and civil rights. A master storyteller who worked as a journalist for 50 years, she lived in Eugene, rural Lane County, Linnton, Portland and Astoria.

Polishuk brings Ruuttila to life in her own words, illustrating the role of oral history in deepening the historical record. Meet Ruuttila during a hilarious childhood misadventure, see her organizing women to support their husbands’ union struggle in the volatile 1930s and witness her arrest for sitting in when she was “too old to get beat up.”

Polishuk also shares excerpts from Ruuttila’s fiction, including a prize-winning story written during her year at the University of Oregon and another that was published in “True Story” magazine.

Polishuk taught oral history at Portland State University and served as vice president of her teachers union there. Her essays and interviews have appeared in scholarly and literary journals and anthologies. She is active in the Oral History, Northwest Oral History and Northwest Labor History Associations. A Northwest native, Polishuk has been an activist since the 1960s in the peace, justice and women’s liberation movements.

OCH is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities that is dedicated to the belief that knowledge and ideas are fundamental to the health of communities. For more information, visit www.oregonhum.org.