Minnesota Women's Press, Inc. Oral History Project: Interview with Kathy Magnuson

Titles: Minnesota Women's Press, Inc. Oral History Project: Interview with Kathy Magnuson (Supplied title)

Description: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Kathy had been the general manager of Minnesota Women's Press, Inc. (MWP) since 1995. Prior to that, she served as the sales director between 1985-1986 and 1991-1995. She was one of the founders of MWP, participating in the planning groups during 1984. Kathy has a BA from Concordia College in Moorhead, and a M.Ed. in work, community and family education from the University of Minnesota. She had been employed by the Shaklee Corporation, the International Special Olympics, and Park Press, Inc. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: June 7, 1999: Early planning for the start-up of MWP; interests and emphasis on business vs. feminism; structure of early ad sales efforts and initial ad reps; conflict over staffing based on feminist commitment vs. business skills; early conflict resolution at MWP; prototype of newspaper prepared prior to start-up; basis upon which advertisers purchased ads in MWP; early staffing; pricing and marketing of ads; the role of education in sales at MWP; efforts to get ads from major retailers and other large institutions; ads that might discriminate against women; early offices in Mollie Hoben's home and later in Security Building; financial difficulties of MWP; frugality at MWP; distribution of the first issue of the newspaper; changes in MWP between 1986 and 1991. January 13, 2000: Changes in sales and advertising during the 1990s; technological changes and the impact on the sales processes; importance of readership surveys; impact of being a pro-choice organization on advertising; relationship between sales and editorial sections of MWP; readership trust; skill of sales staff; profit sharing and compensation policies; effect of prosperity on activities; changing to in-house accounting; MWP goals regarding profitability and related discussions with bankers; frugality at MWP; past and present leadership; transition of co-founders from leadership role; important values of MWP; MWP as a feminist business; impact of MWP.

Dates

• 06/07/1999 - 01/13/2000 (Interviews conducted 6/7/1999 and 1/13/2000.) (Creation)

Creation

• interviewee: Magnuson, Kathy
• interviewer: Brewer, Kathryn Balstad

Identifiers

• Library Call Number: OH 75
• Accession Number: AV2001.34.24

Holding Type: Oral History - Interview

Project

• Oral History - Project, MHS Collection, project: 'Minnesota Women's Press, Inc. Oral History Project' <OH 75>

Quantity: 3 hours sound cassette 44 pages transcript

Format

• Content Category: sound recordings
• Content Category: text

Measurements

• 120 minutes length

Subjects

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