rebecca copper
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Single Parent Archive, 2021-ongoing
The Single Parent Archive is a growing archive that supports the multiplicity of single parenting experiences and caring for a dependent on one's own. Co-founded with Marti Clemmons, it intersects identity, politics around care/care labor value, and archival/preservation practices.
The archive is still undergoing structural development and has acquired a small collection. The collection contains poetic narratives, photography, interviews, scanned recipes, illustrations, and more. The archive's philosophy is to investigate alternative archiving practices and inquire about and learn responsible modes of preservation that refuse the "capturing" of objects/stories/experiences from people but serve as a place of reflective remembrance.
The first collection is a series of interviews regarding audiotapes given to Portland State University's Archives and Special Collections and kick-started the archive. The audiotapes were given to Portland State by the feminist bookstore In Other Words, which held the recounts of mothers and fathers sharing stories about battling for custody of their children after coming out in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The audiotapes are closed to the public because there is little to no information identifying who is on the recordings. The interviews document our search to determine who is on the tapes. Through our search, we located four lawyers who were significant in early legal wins for queer parenting rights. The first three conversations with these lawyers were transcribed and published in the Social Forms of Art Journal (SoFA Journal)
For more information
A small collection of the archive was exhibited at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Portland State University in Portland, OR