Abstract:
Studies have shown that women's ideas, especially those that challenge the status
quo, have historically received little attention from the press. This thesis discusses how women were described in three of Oregon's frontier newspapers from 1846 to 1859, and also explores their contributions to the newspapers as writers, poets, editors, and
businesswomen. Information from established American media clipped for the frontier
papers described popular, mainstream ideas of womanhood, as well as provided news on
the emerging women's rights struggle. Information generated locally on women
encompassed a variety of themes, including marriage, education, and temperance. This
study shows that even though content about women and women's roles as contributors
were constrained by contemporary ideas of propriety and women's place in society,
women were valued as readers and contributors to the three Oregon newspapers.