The Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. (OTI) collection contains correspondence, budgets, reports, clippings, newsletters, grant proposals, conference and event materials, papers of other trades organizations, videocassettes, and other materials relating to OTI. The bulk of the materials within this collection focus on OTI's grant funded and community based projects, and events. Materials related to the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) grant primarily focus on the Portland Pathways to Success program and contain reports, surveys, committee meeting minutes, notes, proposals, and statistics. Materials concerning OTI's annual Women in Trades Fair include documents regarding patrons and sponsors, advertising, programs and flyers, committee meeting minutes and notes, and budgets. In addition, other materials within this collection pertain to topics regarding training and education programs, career opportunities for women and girls, and educational and research material concerning discrimination, apprenticeship, and other topics regarding women in the trades. For digitized material related to all tradeswomen archives collections please consult the Tradeswomen Archives Project .

While attending a national conference for women in the building trades in 1989, elevator constructor Connie Ashbrook along with three other tradeswomen- two carpenters and an operating engineer, came up with the idea to form Oregon Tradeswomen Network with the objective to assist, support, and provide advocacy for women who work in trades in areas such as mentorship, education, and leadership. Incorporated in 1991, in its earliest days, Oregon Tradeswomen Network acted as a support group that held monthly meetings for tradeswomen to gather and discuss their thoughts and issues. In 1996 founding member Connie Ashbrook was named Executive Director of Oregon Tradeswomen Network. Under her direction, she started seeking out ways in which Oregon Tradeswomen Network could create and promote opportunities for women in the trades. With the help of grants funded by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Oregon Department of Education, Oregon Tradeswomen Network began developing more programs and projects that expanded their focus from networking to include education, training, and employment opportunities in building trades for girls and young women. In 1992, Oregon Tradeswomen Network formed The Women in Trades Fair- a one day event featuring exhibits, activities, and workshops dedicated to women and girls. The purpose of the Women in Trades Fair is to increase diversity and the overall number of women working in non-traditional career fields and educate them to the possibility of a future career in trades. What started out as a one day event has now extended into a three day event with days dedicated to middle school girls, high school girls, and women. In 2013, close to 2,000 women and girls attended or participated in the Women in Trades Fair.

28.6 Linear Feet (sixty document cases; two record storage boxes; one oversized container)

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

There are no access restrictions on this collection.