In January and February 1974, the Women Studies program at the University of Washington presented a seven-part winter series. Some 200–250 local and out-of-state attendees were expected. The weekly series kicked off with a play reading, music, and poetry before moving on to presentations on sociology, anthropology, and other academic topics.

The first program featured Jody Aliesan and Gloria Albee. Albee, a Women Studies student, presented a reading of her student project, a feminist recasting of Euripides’ “Medea.” Aliesan, a Seattle feminist poet and composer, presented some of her works written the previous year.

Both women had long careers in activism and the literary scene. Aliesan published many songs, articles, essays and books of poetry. She worked at the Puget Consumers Co-op and was a co-founder of PCC’s Farmland Trust. Albee wrote many award-winning plays and campaigned tirelessly for the recognition of women playwrights. In later life, she even appeared in a movie about seniors performing Shakespeare.

Caption information source: “Women Studies: Series Has ‘Cozy’ Kickoff”, by Susan Paynter, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 16, 1974, page D2.
Caption information source: “Obituary: Jody Aliesan, 1943-2012”, The Seattle Times, https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/seattletimes/name/jody-aliesan-obituary?id=13300820.
Caption information source: “Obituary: Gloria Albee, 1931-2019”, The [New Jersey] Star-Ledger, https://obits.nj.com/us/obituaries/starledger/name/gloria-albee-obituary?id=9786161.