Photo: Getty Images

Portland City Council President Jamie Dunphy announced today that the City of Portland will recognize Friday, September 25, 2026, as Dolly Parton Day, by Mayoral Proclamation.

Portlanders are invited to City Council's pre-gavel ceremony at 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, September 23, 2026, celebrating the Dolly Parton Day proclamation and featuring Laurie McNichols from Imagination Library and a musical performance by Nicole Onoscopi. All are welcome to celebrate Dolly's music, generosity, and legacy.

"After all she has given to us, I'm incredibly honored to have a small part in honoring Dolly's legacy here in Portland with a little song, big hair and plenty of rhinestones," said Nicole Onoscopi. "May Dolly always remind us to live joyously, love generously and navigate this world with a little more kindness."

September 25 is 9/25, making it the perfect day for Portland to honor the woman who gave the world "9 to 5." But the connection goes deeper than the title of a beloved song and movie.

Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" has endured for nearly half a century as an anthem for working people. Less widely remembered is that the song and the 1980 film were inspired by the real 9 to 5 working women's movement, which began in Boston in the early 1970s. Women office workers organized around low wages, unequal pay, limited opportunities and workplace harassment, winning meaningful improvements in working conditions.

When Parton wrote "9 to 5" while filming alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, she transformed those frustrations into an anthem of pride, solidarity and hope to millions.

"That's one of the things I admire most about Dolly," said Portland City Council President Jamie Dunphy. "Dolly didn't make people smaller in order to make her message bigger," Dunphy continued. "She found a way to make people laugh, make people think, make people sing along and, ultimately, make people believe that things could be better. We need more of that today."

Born in 1945 in a one-room cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, Dolly Rebecca Parton rose from humble beginnings to become a songwriter, performer, actress, business leader and philanthropist whose influence reached generations of Americans and people around the world.

Over a career spanning more than six decades, Parton wrote an estimated 3,000 songs and sold more than 100 million records worldwide. Her enduring songs, including "Jolene", "I Will Always Love You" and "9 to 5," became part of the American musical canon. She received 11 Grammy Awards and was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

But Parton's legacy extends far beyond music.

As a businesswoman, Parton famously retained ownership of her music publishing rights at a time when doing so was unusual in the music industry. That independence helped fuel a remarkable philanthropic legacy focused not on accumulating wealth, but on putting her success to work for others.

In 1995, she established Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, which has since distributed more than 300 million free books to children worldwide, including thousands of young readers in Multnomah County. Her philanthropy also supported disaster relief, wildlife preservation and medical research.

"Dolly Parton was inspired to create the Imagination Library by her father, who was unable to read or write," said Laurie McNichols, State Director of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Oregon. "Her example reminds us that every child deserves the opportunity to dream, discover, and grow through the joy of books and reading. Thanks to our forty-eight partners around the state and the State of Oregon's commitment, all children statewide are eligible to enroll."

Parton received three honorary doctorates from Carson-Newman University, the University of Tennessee and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, earning her the affectionate title "Dr. Dolly."

She also used her platform to stand with LGBTQIA2S+ people and other marginalized communities, particularly at a time when such support was not always common in country music.

"She had a remarkable ability to be unmistakably Dolly without demanding that everyone else become Dolly," Dunphy said. "She stood for working people, children, kindness and people who were being pushed to the margins. She showed that you can have principles without having contempt, fight for change without losing your humanity, and stand up for people without tearing others down."

As both a musician and a politician, Dunphy has long championed the arts as essential to building community and creating connections between people who might otherwise never find common ground.

"Dolly understood the power of that," said Dunphy. "She could bridge divides without surrendering what she believed in. She brought people together without pretending we all agreed. That is a rare gift, particularly right now, and one that inspires me as a Councilor to lead with respect."

Mayor Keith Wilson was happy to support the Proclamation, seeing in Dolly a reflection of Portland's own values. Her rare ability to connect people across geography, politics, class, and culture is exactly the kind of unifying spirit this city holds dear.

Following her death on August 25, 2026, at the age of 80 after a private battle with cancer, Portland's proclamation recognizes a life whose impact transcended music and entertainment.

"On 9/25, let's celebrate Dolly the way she lived," Dunphy said. "Play music. Read a book with a child. Help a neighbor. Stand up for someone who needs it. Give something back. Whatever it is, let's do it the Dolly way, with kindness, grace and a lot of joy!"

The City of Portland encourages residents to mark Dolly Parton Day on September 25, 2026, by celebrating her music and finding their own way to carry forward her legacy of literacy, generosity, inclusion, hard work and service to others.

Source: Portland City Council

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