Who We Are

Donnelly/Colt Progressive Resources is a small, family-owned and operated business that has provided progressive materials for consciousness raising and fundraising since 1975. It was just one of those ventures a newly formed couple ventured upon, after stints in college and various jobs. We, Kate Donnelly and Clay Colt, wanted to change the world to make it a more tolerant and peaceful place. We also wanted to stop waiting tables and cleaning 16mm films for a living. So we bought a proof press in San Francisco where we were living, drove 3,000 miles east, set it up and began hand setting wooden and metal type and printing bumperstickers – one at a time. This was a unique service nobody else was doing at the time. It was also incredibly labor-intensive. Three decades later, I'm not sure we have a more just and peaceful planet, but it's not for lack of trying. Our business has grown and waned and grown and waned as the progressive movements have.

/////We started printing catalogs by hand-mimeographing pages, then offset printed newsprint, graduated to almost full color and now we're on the world wide web for the first time. In 2002 we stopped printing the no-longer-affordable paper catalogue, saving scores of trees and hundreds of thousands of dollars in printing, mailing lists and postage. Some might say it's well overdue, but others frown upon the use of this fast-paced technology. We are in many ways a couple of Luddites; Clay still types custom printing orders and invoices on a funky old manual typewriters he buys at tag sales. (In 2005, he finally got his first real computer.) But we also understand the enormous waste of resources printing hundreds of thousands of catalogs can be. So here we are on the web, we hope you enjoy our site, if you want to know more about us read on, or explore.

/////Clay and I have been involved in many movements for social change over the past years. I still fundamentally believe in the basic tenant that grass-roots, local action is what brings about social change.

////////It is very easy to feel disempowered by the lack of a progressive mass movement. But selling these materials, all these years, we see that action is indeed taking place, locally in communities throughout the country. Daily we receive orders, not only from older activists and organizations, but also from youth, on and off campuses around the country. They tell us about actions against war, racism, sexual harassment, against sweat shops, for fair trade, against corporate globalization, promoting justice around the world, against the war on students and the poor, and in favor of talks not troops, around the world. We receive letters, calls and email from young people, thanking us for not only providing the products we carry, but for the acknowledgment that they are not alone in their beliefs.

/////After all these years, the day to day operations of this business can be somewhat boring. How many creative ways can we figure out to say the same message, pay the bills, fill the orders, meet deadlines, and do the paperwork? What keeps us going is you, our customers, not people who just buy from us, but people who are actively working to create justice in the world. It can feel lonely out there, we're here to tell you, there is a mass movement for social change. Each seemingly small action is multiplied many-fold by others organizing around the world.

/////The challenges are how to fit our work into our daily lives, and how to support each other's work. Over the years, my social change work has evolved from organizing protests and preparing people to participate in nonviolent civil disobedience actions, to doing conflict resolution and diversity work in my children's schools. As a parent, I feel the most important part of my life, is raising our three children to be happy, self-confident, compassionate people. Having this business has allowed Clay and I to be here for them when they need us. It's also allowed me to integrate my social activism with my parenting. I believe it's been the most effective peace and justice work I've done to date. Let's face it, without intelligent compassionate youth there's not much hope for our planet, never mind our "movement." Increasingly, that is where I've put my efforts, working in schools and working with War Resisters League's YouthPeace campaign. And too often these days we find ourselves on our local picket line protesting our country's reliance on war as its only means of confronting injustice.

/////I spend a lot of time in schools, training kids to become peer mediators, talking about diversity and anti-bias, teaching conflict resolution skills, talking about being an activist. Hearing students reveal that they have never before believed that there is a way to resolve problems without violence or that they've never before considered anyone else's point of view in a conflict, or that teasing a gay student is not OK, makes the work worthwhile. This is my way of integrating my complicated life together.

/////Clay goes to various events and conferences, to bring our resources to more activists. The feedback he gets at events is a vital reminder of the importance of our work. He sells at conferences for early childhood educators, social studies teachers, gay and lesbian activists, college events, music festivals and a lot more. Clay describes his experience doing tables this way; "it's with heartfelt gratitude that I do this work. Meeting people and hearing of their actions, I know the truth to the slogan 'one person can make a difference.' Like everything else, activism has its cycles. I admire your struggle to resist, protest, grow, and continue to renew and restore your hope and commitment to a better world."

/////Our kids are doing well; Andrew (b.1982) was a peer mediator in high school, teaching nonviolent conflict resolution skills to other students. He graduated from Oberlin College in 2004 where he majored in geology. His first year after college he was a geologist in the Granite State. In midsummer 2005 he, his dog Daisy and girlfriend Deanna began the 2,100 mile, 6 month hike of the Appalachian Trail starting at Mount Katahdin in Baxter State Park. They completed their journey in December 2005 in Georgia. In 2007 they headed off to grad school in Colorado. Cal (b.1984) was also a mediator and like his brother involved in diversity work in school as well as the YouthPeace campaign. He graduated from Oberlin in 2006, studying art and Spanish. He keeps this website up-to-date. He lives in West Haven, CT where he takes care of his 90 year old grandma at her home. Zoe (b.1990), a high school senior here at home, is a strong and powerful girl, able to be as feminine or as butch as she wants, creating her own version of what a girl should be. She expresses her creativity through modern dance. She's off to college in Vermont in 2008. They are a continual joy and inspiration, as are their friends and their whole generation.

/////Each of us has a story of the successes of our work. We need to share these stories with each other and gather inspiration from each other. I like the words sister, brother, comrade, words not readily used. We must overcome the isolation, so prevalent in our society, to create an improved world of peace, love, freedom, cooperation and social justice, all those old-fashioned words. Those are the traditional values I hold dear.

/////We are often asked, "What is Donnelly/Colt?" Sounding too much like a corporate entity, let us clarify. When we began 33 years ago we wanted to incorporate our progressive politics with our love of graphics. We started small and have grown slowly. We worked out of our basement for 17 years and now have a beautiful building in the countryside of northeastern Connecticut. Beside ourselves, we have one other person working with us. Julia Kowal is filling orders and often answering our phone with the help of some good music. Be patient with Julia, as a working mom she's juggling watching/feeding/nursing/changing/chasing/dancing with her new additions to her family: Wolfie, born at home July 20, 2005. You may even hear his voice as he learns how to yell and speak on the job. He's very good at being cute and adorable. He's not only beautiful, but very adept at figuring out ways to trash the "order" of a mail-order operation, and re-sort the "mail" part of it, too. He challenges us every moment to walk our talk. And we try to remember, like grandpa Donnelly always used to say, "This, too, shall pass." He reminds Kate and Clay of their early years at this business, in the early-to-mid 1980's, when Andrew and Cal brought similar challenges to our pre-internet version of this mail-order business.
Julia also has a daughter, Naomi Faye, also born at home on September 16, 2007. Both Naomi and Wolfie come to work with their mom, so please bear with her and us during these years of growing pains. Before we know it, these kids will be the adults and we'll be very old and dependent on them for the patience and compassion we try to provide for them during these, their early years. Still, we have a good track record of getting orders out in a timely fashion. But, sometimes we get swamped. Please be patient and give us as much time as you can for your order.

/////Please let us know what kind of items and messages you would like to see. Your suggestions over the years have helped us improve the selection and quality of what we have to offer. We've discontinued many things that haven't sold well for several years.

/////Most of our products are union-made. We feel it is important to honor the labor and struggles of the many women and men who work for a better, more equitable workplace and salary. Without the support of all of us in the progressive movement, government and industry would have an even freer hand in exploiting working people everywhere. As long as we can find them, we will carry union-made products. It is astounding that there are only four unionized companies making t-shirts in the United States and that only 7% of all workers in the U.S. are in a union! When we began this business there were 20% of U.S. workers in unions. This has steadily declined during the anti-union neo-con years since then. The nation's industrial infrastructure has been outsourced to other countries whgere laborand human life are considered (Wall Street calls these sweatshop markets "under-valued" which makes U.S. investors consider such companies doing business in countries with no workers' rights, protections or living wage, as "growth opportunities" for their investments. The Chinese word for "crisis" and "opportunity" are the same. Still, our country historically has been, and still is a resilient, resourceful and hard-working country. Your support of alternative, union-made, fairly-traded goods makes a difference. We urge you to look for the union label on products you buy. You will see far more "Made In China" or "Honduras" labels on products and clothes than you will see "Union Made in U.S.A." Spend your dollars strategically. Without suppport from sweatshop-made products (most products from China). We know that it's difficult to do these days. Sweatshop Watch publishes an annual "Shop With A Conscience Guide" (www.sweatshopwatch.org) See also: Shop Union Made (www.ShopUnionMade.org); www.SweatFree.org/shopping; and the International Labor Rights Forum (www.laborrights.org) <

/////We can custom print items for your own campaigns and always use union shops for printing. If you're interested in custom printing give Clay a call and he can help you get what you need promptly, professionally, at a good (often the best) price and with attention to detail. (860-455-9621; fax: 860-455-9597; email: clay@donnellycolt.com)

/////We'll be here providing you with resources to counter the official propaganda, and fight the good fight. We honor each of you and your struggles everywhere.

Kate Donnelly

Who We Are

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