biandlesbianliterature:

lakemermaids-deactivated2018012:

May 1, 1974: Cora, a women’s bookmobile and resource centre, began its travels around rural and small-town Ontario. Named after pioneering Canadian suffragist Ella Cora Hind, Cora was stocked with material on feminism and lesbianism.

At the time, gay women in rural or isolated areas lacked access to this kind of information, which was beginning to empower their counterparts in major urban centres. They struggled, often alone and with great vulnerability, against homophobia. By sharing information about the lesbian feminist movement, Cora helped women develop a positive self-image and overcome their sense of vulnerability.

A few years after Cora launched, a group of women based in the Fraser Valley formed the Rural Lesbian Association. Serving small settlements in BC, they provided services that included a lending library of lesbian writings. Their goal was to build “a network of country women” able to undertake the “political and spiritual work” needed for living in rural areas.

(source)

[image description: a black and white photo of a bookmobile that looks like a school bit. Two women are leaning against it, smiling, and another is stitting on the stairs and smiling. One kid hangs out of the doorway, grinning, and another stands by the women, looking in the opposite direction. Above the windshield is written “CORA”.]