Women of Brown United (WBU), a women's liberation group at Brown University, was founded in September 1970 and endured for over twenty years. Its members campaigned for many issues directly related to women on campus, including accessing reproductive healthcare, advocating for equal admissions, increasing female faculty, establishing a women's studies program, and addressing violence against women.
In the Providence community, WBU established a Rhode Island coalition to fight for the legalization of abortion, helped set up the Brown/Fox Point Early Childcare Education Center, and created the Rhode Island Feminist Theatre. In later years, WBU members were active as safety escorts at Rhode Island abortion clinics, and WBU's Socialist Feminist Caucus founded Sojourner House, a domestic violence shelter.
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This collection contains evidence of the work and interests of Women of Brown United, a women's liberation group founded at Brown University, Providence, RI, in September 1970. During its existence, WBU helped transform Brown to achieve many of the initial goals it set out in its first year, and many more that later emerged. WBU advocated for equal representation of women in faculty positions, laid the groundwork for a women's studies concentration and a women's center, and called for the addition of medical practitioners dedicated to women's reproductive healthcare on campus, among many other successful efforts. Women of Brown United endured as a Brown organization until the early 1990s. Materials include a clipping regarding the organization's effort to establish a feminist studies program,
All researchers seeking to publish materials from the collections of the John Hay Library are requested to complete a Notice of Intent to Publish, prior to reproducing, quoting, or otherwise publishing any portion or extract from this collection. Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Women of Brown United collection, AMS-1ZP-1Q-2024-001, Box [#], Folder [#], Pembroke Center Archives, John Hay Library, Brown University.
This collection is arranged into 1 series alphabetically by record type.
There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Materials were gifted in batches from multiple members of Women of Brown United beginning in 2022. Donors are Jessica Murray and Rachel Wyon.
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