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Mary Oppen (November 28, 1908 – May 14, 1990), was an American activist, artist, photographer, poet and writer. She published an autobiography, ''Meaning a Life'' (1978), and a book of verse, ''Poems and Transpositions'' (1980).


Early life

Oppen was born in
Kalispell, Montana Kalispell (, Salish-Spokane-Kalispel language, Montana Salish: Ql̓ispé, Kutenai language: Kqayaqawakⱡuʔnam) is a city in Montana and the county seat of Flathead County, Montana, United States. The 2020 census put Kalispell's population at ...
, to Ora and Alice (Conklin) Colby. Her father was a postmaster and her mother was a singer. She was raised in the Pacific Northwest. In 1926 she met
George Oppen George Oppen (April 24, 1908 – July 7, 1984) was an American poet, best known as one of the members of the Objectivist group of poets. He abandoned poetry in the 1930s for political activism and moved to Mexico in 1950 to avoid the attentions o ...
in a poetry class at
Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...
. Although they were, respectively, suspended (George) and expelled (Mary) for staying out together overnight, they formed a serious commitment, eventually to be a lifetime bond. Together they travelled extensively, and this began the succession of friendships and contacts out of which the poetry and politics of George and Mary Oppen grew. Fifty years later, in her autobiography ''Meaning A Life'' (1978), Mary Oppen observed of these times:


Poetry, activism, and World War II

After their initial peripatetic years together, the Oppens took up residence in New York City in the late 1920s. There they joined a circle of artists and writers, among whom were the poets
Charles Reznikoff Charles Reznikoff (August 31, 1894 – January 22, 1976) was an American poet best known for his long work, ''Testimony: The United States (1885–1915), Recitative'' (1934–1979). The term Objectivist was coined for him. The multi-volume ''Te ...
and
Louis Zukofsky Louis Zukofsky (January 23, 1904 – May 12, 1978) was an American poet. He was the primary instigator and theorist of the so-called "Objectivist" poets, a short lived collective of poets who after several decades of obscurity would reemerge a ...
. During the 1930s the Oppens involved themselves in leftist political movements. They joined the
Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...
in 1935 after the seventh World Congress of the Communist Parties called for intellectuals to join in a united front against
fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
and war. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, in which George Oppen was severely wounded at the
Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...
, the Oppens were persecuted by the U.S. government for their leftist activities during the Depression. Rather than testify against friends and associates, the Oppens decided in 1950 to flee to Mexico, and by the late 1950s they had found their way into a circle of U.S. expatriates living in Mexico City.


Return to the United States

After a brief trip to the United States in 1958, to visit their daughter Linda at her university, the Oppens returned to New York in the early 1960s. Back in Brooklyn, George, who had started writing again towards the end of his time in Mexico, renewed old ties with his fellow
Objectivists Objectivism is a philosophical system named and developed by Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand. She described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive a ...
and also befriended many younger poets. The Oppens continued to move around, once driving an amphibious car from Miami to New York. In the later part of the 1960s, the Oppens took up residence in the San Francisco Bay area, where George Oppen's family largely lived. For a time, they summered at
Deer Isle, Maine Deer Isle is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,194 at the 2020 census. Notable landmarks in Deer Isle are the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Stonington Opera House, and the town's many art galleries. ...
, where they entertained such East Coast writers as
Theodore Enslin Theodore Vernon Enslin (March 25, 1925 – November 21, 2011) was an American poet associated with Cid Corman's ''Origin'' and press. He is widely regarded as one of the most musical of American avant-garde poets. Enslin was born in Chester, Penn ...
,
Rachel Blau DuPlessis Rachel Blau DuPlessis (born December 14, 1941) is an American poet and essayist, known as a feminist critic and scholar with a special interest in modernist and contemporary poetry. Her work has been widely anthologized. Early life DuPlessis w ...
, Michael Heller, and John Taggart.


Later years

In 1970 Mary Oppen resumed writing poems and continued painting and work in
collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...
. By 1975 she was in the midst of the composition of her memoirs, eventually published as ''Meaning a Life: An Autobiography'' by
Black Sparrow Press Black Sparrow Press is a New England based independent book publisher, known for literary fiction and poetry. History Black Sparrow was founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1966 by John Martin in order to publish the works of Charles Bukowski ...
in May 1978. In this work, Mary Oppen makes apparent how completely she and George shared the risks, adventures, and commitments of their itinerant and artistic life. This included their harrowing, life-changing trip to Israel in September 1975. They had been invited by the mayor of Jerusalem to be his guests at the
Mishkenot Sha'ananim Mishkenot Sha'ananim (, ''lit.'' Peaceful Dwellings) was the first Jewish settlement built outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, on a hill directly across Mount Zion. It was built in 1859–1860. This guesthouse was one of the first ...
, a residence for distinguished artists, writers, and musicians from abroad that faced the walls of the Old City. After their return from this trip, Mary noticed a decline in her husband’s health and a waning in his artistic authority. In 1977, she provided secretarial help so George could complete his final volume of poetry, ''Primitive''. According to Rachel Blau DuPlessis, this "help" was atypical of their practice and was related to George's decline. During this time, George's final illness began to manifest itself with confusion, failing memory, and other losses. In 1980, the Montemora Foundation published her book ''Poems & Transpositions''. George Oppen, died of pneumonia preceded by
Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...
on July 7, 1984, aged 76. On December 3, 1987, his widow read from her autobiography at the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery. Mary Oppen died on May 14, 1990, of
ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different ...
at Alta Bates-Herrick Hospital in
Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...
, aged 81. She had been living in
Albany, California Albany ( ) is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northwestern Alameda County, California, United States. The population was 20,271 at the 2020 United States census. History In 1908, a group of local women protested the dumping ...
. She was survived by a daughter, Linda Mourelatos.


Artist, poet, writer, photographer

Several of her works have been exhibited. Oppen was also a diligent photographer and hers is a record of a life shared among writers and artists only now achieving recognition. These photographs afford glimpses into the world which George and Mary Oppen inhabited—one which was not officially recorded by the arbiters of taste or by academics in a depoliticized postwar America. Prints, paintings and collages by Mary Oppen were included in the 19th National Exhibition of Prints at the Library of Congress in 1963.


Bibliography

* ''Meaning a Life: An Autobiography'' (Black Sparrow Press, 1978; New Directions, 2020) * ''Poems & Transpositions'' (Montemora Foundation, 1980)


References


External links

*
Object Lessons: Andrea Brady on George Oppen's New Collected Poems
includes a brief but insightful discussion of Mary.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oppen, Mary 1908 births 1990 deaths Artists from Kalispell, Montana Objectivist poets Oregon State University alumni American activists 20th-century American photographers American women poets Deaths from ovarian cancer in California 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American women photographers American women memoirists