The Sally Miller Gearhart Fund, created in honor of professor, author and activist Sally Miller Gearhart, promotes research and teaching in lesbian studies through a biennial lecture series and a future endowed professorship.

The Gearhart Fund enables the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department (WGSS) at the University of Oregon to bring outstanding scholars to campus to discuss their work on topics such as gender and identity and its relationship to equality and social justice. Through public lectures, events, and activities, the fund disseminates research and increases awareness of lesbian studies.

Students, faculty and the greater community all benefit from the expertise of visiting scholars. Such dialogue promotes diversity and greatly enriches the department’s overall mission to grow and enhance research and teaching in the area of gay and lesbian studies. With the private contributions in this fund, WGSS has hosted many lectures to date.

The endowment was made possible by an initial challenge gift of $25,000 from Carla Blumberg, long-time friend of Gearhart and fan of WGS at the UO. Carla’s challenge gift was matched with an additional $25,000 from many private donors to create a permanent endowment and provide a lasting voice for lesbian studies in higher education in Oregon. Carla has also pledged to include the university in her will to one day create the Sally Miller Gearhart Professorship in Lesbian Studies. Carla’s commitment will position UO as one of the few universities in the country with such a dedication to sexuality scholarship.

To read the original story on Carla’s historic gift and honoree Sally Miller Gearhart, please see the Summer 2009 Oregon Outlook article – Honoring Diversity and Courage.

To make an online gift to the Sally Miller Gearhart Fund, click here. If you have any further questions about making a gift, please contact the College of Arts and Sciences Development Office at 541-346-3950.

For more information about Sally’s life and activism, visit the Sally Miller Gearhart website.

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More about Sally

Sadly, Sally passed away on July 14th, 2021. The department sends our deepest condolences to Sally’s friends and family and we look forward to celebrating her life and legacy in our Sally Miller Gearhart lecture series. The Sally Miller Gearhart Fund, was created in honor of the professor, author and activist to promote research and teaching in lesbian studies. On Sally’s website Susan Leo write of her passing: “Sally slipped these earthly bonds last night after a long illness. In her last days she had been visited by many who loved her, both in the flesh and in spirit and she seemed ready to let go.”

Sally Miller Gearhart came out of the closet in the 1970s and was the first open lesbian to obtain a tenure-track faculty position when she was hired in 1973 by San Francisco State University. While at San Francisco State University she helped establish one of the first women and gender study programs in the country. She later became a nationally known gay-rights activist and worked determinedly for defeat of California Proposition Six.  She has fought for human and animal rights and causes throughout her life.

Her 1978 debut novel, Wanderground, brought her to national prominence. Sally’s papers are housed in the UO Libraries and we have a lecture series dedicated to Sally every other year.

Sally was a prominent part of the lesbian lands movement and in more recent years had enjoyed retirement in Northern California.

Documentary: There is currently a documentary being made about Sally’s life titled “Sally”. The film-in-progress received a 2021 California Documentary Project award from California Humanities.

About the award the filmmakers stated: “Besides helping us finance the film, this is also a huge feather in our cap and could potentially prompt other grant organizations to support us. Most importantly, we hope that it will help us bring Sally the recognition she so richly deserves.”

Check out documentary clips and details at: https://www.documentaries.org/sally

Website: For more information about Sally’s life and activism, visit the Sally Miller Gearhart website.

Other events:

GLBT Historical Society virtual YouTube event: “Who Was Sally Gearhart? Remembering a Lesbian Legend”.
View a recording of the event (October 29th, 2021) at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6h2HF4-cFw

Public Memorial Celebration for Sally was held in Recreation Grove Park in Willits, California on September 19th 2021.
View a recording of the event at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Qaa3WUnnM