New Accessions: La Follette papers
Special Collections and University Archives is pleased to announce accessions of new poetical works in the Cameron La Follette papers. The finding aid for this collection (Coll 432) is available here.
Cameron La Follette is a graduate of the University of Oregon in 1984 and received a J.D. in Law from Columbia and a M.S. in Psychology from New York University. La Follette is a notable environmental activist in the state of Oregon who currently works as the Executive Director for the Oregon Coast Alliance. Her efforts in coastline preservation have also included work for the Coastal Futures Project for 1000 Friends of Oregon and the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition.
La Follette is also a prolific poet whose work is intertwined with her environmental activism. La Follette has had one book of poetry published, in 2006, entitled Anamchara, of which SCUA has a copy. SCUA also holds a complete archive of La Follette’s poetry, which includes many hundreds of pieces. The collection includes original manuscript drafts, notebooks and typescripts of her poetry on the subjects of spirit, myth, and nature. La Follette also leads a Classical Poetry Group in her home of Salem, Oregon. This collection showcases an Oregonian environmental perspective in professional and creative works, both of which uniquely inspire and inform the other.
In addition to creative works, the collection also includes environmental papers related to La Follette. This includes early student publications from the 1980s and later press clippings, journal articles, and papers authored by La Follette for regional newspapers such as the Oregon Journal, Oregon Magazine, and Willamette Week, up to 2008.
SCUA holds a copy in the Oregon Collection of a newly published legal textbook co-authored by La Follette, Sustainability and the Rights of Nature: An Introduction (2017). The publisher describes the book as:
a much-needed guide that addresses the exciting and significant paradigm shift to the Rights of Nature, as it is occurring both in the United States and internationally in the fields of environmental law and environmental sustainability. This shift advocates building a relationship of integrity and reciprocity with the planet by placing Nature in the forefront of our rights-based legal systems.
The University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives maintains a large collection of manuscripts of women authors and political and social activists, and this particular collection provides access to the papers of an Oregon alumna and innovative environmental land use activist.
