A Panel Discussion on the History of The Mountain Moving Cafe: Exploring Collectives at Work

A Panel Discussion on the History of The Mountain Moving Cafe: Exploring Collectives at Work the presented as part of the History of Social Justice Organizing Series on November 14th. 

The panel featured four members of the original Mountain Moving Cafe collective: Ellen Goldberg, Andy Clark, Kiera O'Hara, Peter Thacker. . (Pictured above)

Mountain Moving Cafe was a beloved institution in ‘70s Portland.  A discussion of how it worked was an opportunity to talk about what it takes to make a collective work.
        
The Mountain Moving Collective’s consciously anti-profit cafe opened in 1975 offering Portland's earliest vegetarian menu and attracting both alternative and mainstream patrons.

Daily  community programming included political presentations, organizing meetings plus local and nationally touring performers. No men were allowed at Wednesday’s Women's Night. The collective provided child care, sparking restaurant children's playrooms in town. The  bulletin board changed monthly, highlighting the organization currently receiving the tips

The Cafe was a catalyst for discussions and action among progressives, and provided a much-loved community center, for women and men, both gay and straight together, until they lost the space in 1979.
                        
The panel event was held at Portland State University. It was co-sponsored by The Center for Women, Politics & Policy @ PSU