Fonds yuk-1058 - The OptiMSt Collective fonds

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The OptiMSt Collective fonds

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  • Source of title proper: Title based on provenance.

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CA yuk yuk-1058

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Physical description

.12 m of textual records;183 photographs : 94 b&w negs., 85 b&w prints, 4 col. prints

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Biographical history

The OptiMSt was a newsletter published four times a year, by the Yukon Status of Women Council, from 1974 to the winter of 2002. Each production run was approximately 1,000 copies with 700 distributed by mail, newsstand and community contacts throughout the territory. The black and white, 20 page newsletter was produced by volunteers. Costs were covered by subscriptions and advertisement space purchased by local businesses. Production space was provided by the publisher, the Yukon Status of Women Council. The OptiMSt published information of interest and relevance to women on a wide variety of topics including current events, health, law, education, and employment. The paper was a forum for women to publish their writing, poetry and art. It was created to provide a communication link among women of the territory, to foster creativity, to reduce isolation, and to stimulate discussion of issues of concern to Yukon women. Initially the newsletter was typed on manual typewriters and reproduced on a mimeograph machine. For the bulk of its production cycle the OptiMSt was word-processed on increasingly sophisticated personal computers. The printed text was pasted with wax onto flats which were then copied to plates and printed onto newsprint at the Yukon News. In its last years the paper was desktop published. At this point the group was struggling as the number of volunteers had diminished and with the new technology the collaborative and social element of layout was lost. The paper stopped publishing in the winter of 2002. Some of the key members of the collective producing the OptiMSt were Mary Martin, Chris Scherbarth, Alison Reid, Jan Langford, and Marcelle Dube.

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Scope and content

The fonds consists of textual records and photographs, from 1978 to 2004, which relate to the business and operation of the OptiMSt newspaper, which was published in Whitehorse, Yukon from 1974 to 2002. The fifteen files include minutes of meetings, correspondence, reader surveys, special editions, advertising information, and financial statements. The photographs depict the volunteers who put the paper together in meetings and discussions, proofing articles, working the printing press, and as part of advertising shots. Some of the women are identified.

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Negatives match b&w prints; some prints are duplicates.

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There are no donor-imposed restrictions on this material. General copyright or institutional or legal restrictions may apply.

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Finding aids

File list is available for the textual records. Caption list is available for the photographs.

Associated materials

The Yukon Archives has most issues of The OptiMSt in its library.

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