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Elisabeth Lorrayne Willer Solomon ’30

Elisabeth Lorrayne Willer Solomon ’30, April 6, 2004, in Portland. Libby emigrated from Russia with her family in 1914, briefly attended Reed, and worked as a medical laboratory technician. Drawn together by their mutual interest in the Oregon Commonwealth Federation, a liberal labor coalition, she and Gus J. Solomon ’26 were married in 1939. During that decade and the next, she organized training groups for women in the Democratic Party. Libby was a staunch advocate for civil rights; fighting intolerance and discrimination through activism, including in her work with the Portland chapter of the American Jewish Congress. She assisted the development of the Judaic studies program at Portland State University, and, with her husband, created the Gus & Libby Solomon Scholarship Fund at Reed for talented and needy students in English and creative arts. Her interest in the arts led her to the position of trustee of the Arts & Crafts Society (Oregon College of Art and Craft) and the Contemporary Crafts Gallery. She also chaired the Portland Art Commission. Stories and Poems, published in 1998 (Barlow Road Press), featured her collected writing. Survivors include three sons, three grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Gus died in 1987.

Appeared in Reed magazine: May 2005