Sally Miller Gearhart, among the first open lesbians to be granted tenure at a university, helped establish the women’s studies program at San Francisco State University, taught some of the country’s first courses with “homosexuality” in the title and spent much of her life fighting for equality.
An anonymous donor – “a good friend of Sally Miller Gearhart who really appreciates her work and contribution as an activist and scholar in the area of lesbian studies, as well as gay and lesbian activism,” said Ellen Scott, director of the University’s Women’s and Gender Studies program – has recently established a fund in Gearhart’s name to support the University’s WGS program and lesbian studies therein.
“I was delighted. It’s not often that small programs get people to stumble along and say, ‘I’d like to establish an endowed chair here,’” Scott said. “Having that kind of focus on your program and that kind of appreciation… it’s an honor.”
The Sally Miller Gearhart Chair in Lesbian Studies, the endowment that will be granted upon the donor’s death, will bring expert faculty members to the program. Over the next five years, a smaller endowment will go toward conference speakers, lecturers and faculty research.
“It’s a relatively small amount of money, but we are absolutely thrilled,” Scott said. “We hope to use the money wisely.”
The amount of the gift has been kept confidential at the donor’s request, but any additional donations to the fund will be matched by the donor up to $25,000.
The donation coincides with the WGS program’s plan to establish a minor in queer studies, which Scott said will hopefully be off the ground next fall.
Gearhart had a long and distinguished career in academia, though never in Oregon. The donor chose the University for its long-standing history of student activism, as well as that in Eugene, and for the fact that the Knight Library’s special collections is home to much of Gearhart’s work. In addition to her academic papers and personal letters, special collections has manuscripts of Gearhart’s feminist science-fiction writing.
“If people want to come look at her original manuscripts or read her correspondence, they would come here to do that,” said manuscript librarian Linda Long.
Long was excited that the library collection played such a large role in the donor’s decision, which she hopes will spark future interest.
“We’re kind of redoubling our effort to publish our collections and let scholars know that we have them here,” she said.
WGS major Stephanie Bornstein graduates in June, so she will be gone before any of her program’s changes take effect, but she hopes the donation will improve it for future students.
Because the WGS program is relatively small, Bornstein said she’s taken many topic classes that may not appear in the course catalog again.
“If you don’t jump into (a specific course) one year, it might not be offered the next. Hopefully, a lot more classes will be offered regularly,” she said. “It’s a great program and hopefully this will give an opportunity to make it better.”
To donate to the fund call the College of Arts and Sciences Development Office at 541-346-3950.
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