Women in the Media: Old Tucson and Nourishing Space

This series of clips offers a fascinating snapshot of the Tucson feminist community as it existed in around 1975. It features interviews and depicts communication with feminist groups in both New York and Los Angeles via video newsletters filmed by Feminists in the Media. This Tucson organization shot brief feminist-themed stories that centered around local women, and these were exchanged with similar groups in the other cities.

Nourishing Space is described by Katharine “Kittu” Riddle in her sit-down interview, which was as an excellent example of a nontraditional organization devoted to women’s wellbeing. Originally developed by Riddle, this is described as a place where women could connect with other women, share in the development of reflective processes, and potentially settle for a time if they wished. The Nourishing Space developed a well-rounded, structured process for healing. Riddle remarked that she hoped it would eventually become a land trust and nonprofit organization.

Responses to the New York and Los Angeles feminist video postcards is also documented in the clips. Women talk about what they got out of the recordings, providing constructive criticism of both tapes for improvement purposes. Learning about women from different American communities was one stated advantage to seeing the postcards – this was made possible by the advancement of video technology, and greatly enhanced possibilities for nationwide contact between feminists.

Katharine Riddle’s biography, which mentions the Nourishing Space, can be found here: https://www.biblio.com/book/nourishing-life-riddle-katharine-parker/d/903194644