How did Tillie Olsen’s reading lists influence the Feminist Press reprint series?

Tillie Olsen’s dedication to recovering the work of forgotten women writers was a foundational force for the Feminist Press, which was established in 1970.1

Her influence was particularly significant through her efforts to identify and promote lost literary voices. These recommendations were compiled as "Tillie Olsen’s Reading Lists" and published in the Women’s Studies Newsletter between 1972 and 1973. These lists served as a direct inspiration for the Feminist Press’s reprint series, which aimed to bring historically marginalized women authors back into circulation.1

Olsen’s commitment to this cause was further exemplified by her work on Rebecca Blaine Harding Davis’s 1861 work, Life in the Iron Mills, for which she provided an extensive historical and biographical afterword when the press reprinted it in 1972. Through these contributions, Olsen helped ensure that the voices of women writers who had been silenced by discrimination and repression were rediscovered and preserved for future generations.1