IMAGES: Kootenay Women’s Paper, as it came to be known, was originally published in 1972 as the Nelson Women’s Centre Newsletter. Soon after, it became the voice of the Kootenay Women’s Council, a coalition of women’s groups, produced first at the Nelson Women’s Centre, and then at the West Kootenay Women’s Council’s Selkirk College office. During this time, it received its name, IMAGES, and became a newspaper. Many local women artists produced the artwork for the covers. Ultimately, publication moved back to Nelson, where it was last published in 1991.

At different times, the Collective aimed to base each issue around a specific theme, allowing for a broader analysis around topics of relevance to women. Overall, it documented the women’s movement in Canada as it was practiced in the lives of women in the East and West Kootenays, telling both personal and political stories, stories of the struggles for effective and satisfying economic, social, and political lives for women in rural Canada.