Founded in 1975 by Brown University graduate Hilary Salk, The Rhode Island Women's Health collective addressed sexism in US women's healthcare and the medical community's lack of responsiveness to the unique healthcare needs of women.
Hilary Salk graduated from Brown University in 1963 whereupon she moved to Boston, Massachusetts. Unusual for many women at the time, Salk gave birth to her first child in 1966 with the help of a montrice - a non-medical birth assistant similar to a doula. Toward the end of her pregnancy, she also took classes through the Boston Association for Childbirth Education where she learned about the Boston Women's Health Collective.
When Salk and her family moved back to Providence, Rhode Island in 1973 she volunteered as a labor coach for a pregnant teenage girl from the Sophia Little Home, then a home for unwed mothers. After not being allowed to attend the labor she realized that healthcare in Rhode Island was lagging behind that of Boston. The American healthcare system of the 1960s and 1970s was rooted in a patriarchal structure that often denied women participation in conversations about their own healthcare and healthcare decision making. Concerned about the mistreatment of women in healthcare, Salk set out to change the medical system by mimicking the work of the Boston Women's Health Collective and their landmark book on women's health and sexuality, Our Bodies, Ourselves.
In 1975, Salk put out a call in The Providence Journal for women to meet at her home to discuss healthcare. Several women attended, including Elizabeth Edgerly, Carol Shelton, and Amy Tabor, and they formed the non-profit Rhode Island Women's Health Collective with the mission to improve the health of women and their families through education, advocacy and mutual support. In 1976, with volunteer labor alone, the Collective organized a multi-day conference (see box 10, folder 2 for program) featuring doctors, midwives, and other healthcare professionals, discussing topics including reproduction and childbirth, breastfeeding, patient's rights, nutrition, and cancer. The conference, held at Rhode Island College in downtown Providence, brought together over 500 people and generated the Collective's first income, allowing them to begin hiring staff.
Eventually, the Collective moved into an office space in Providence. They continued to sponsor conferences, events, support groups for woman-to-woman advice, publish books and informational pamphlets, and push for legislative change in Rhode Island. Perhaps most notably, they offered a Health Hotline that women could call 24/7 to ask questions about their health and get referrals to doctors or counselors. By 1986, the Collective broadened their work to address the healthcare needs of lower income women, women of color, and older women. Additionally, as the nation experienced the HIV/AIDS crisis beginning in the early 1980s, the Collective saw the impact of the disease on women and began to address those healthcare needs as well. Over these years, Roberta Aaronson, Barbara Schermack, Johnette Rodriguez, and Wanda Brown, also joined the Collective.
The Collective dissolved in 1999.
For more information on the work of the Rhode Island Women's Health Collective, listen to the 2024 Pembroke Center Oral History Project interview with eight of the group's members: https://sites.brown.edu/pembrokeoralhistory/2024/11/04/rhode-island-womens-health-collective/
and the 1988 Pembroke Center Oral History Project interview with founder Hilary Salk: https://sites.brown.edu/pembrokeoralhistory/2023/06/27/hilary-berger-ross-class-of-1963/
includes Sojourner House pamphlet
This collection contains the records of the Rhode Island Women's Health Collective, a non-profit organization that operated from 1975 to 1999 with the mission of improving the health of women and their families through education, advocacy and mutual support. Topics in the collection include pregnancy and childbirth, birth control, maternal and child health, cancer and cancer screening, and women's mental health. Materials include administrative records, financial records, grant materials, event materials, photographs, research materials, and electronic records on removable carriers. The collection dates from 1973-1997 and is arranged into 9 series.
Series 1, ADMINISTRATIVE FILES, 1975 - 1997, includes agreements, board meeting minutes and notes, bylaws, correspondence, mailing lists, newsletters, and tax forms. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type.
Series 2, FINANCIAL RECORDS, 1987 - 1997, includes budgets, check requests, donor lists, financial statements, payroll documents, and receipts. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type.
Series 3, GRANT MATERIALS, 1979 - 1997, includes grant applications, attachments, correspondence, and handwritten notes. Granting organizations include Ben and Jerry's Foundation, Dexter Donation Commission, Fund for Community Progress, Minority Health Program of the Rhode Island Department of Health, and the Rhode Island Foundation. Grant funds were used for staff salaries, programming, and operating budgets, among other things. This series is arranged alphabetically by granting agency.
Series 4, SPECIAL PROJECTS, 1982 - 1997, includes correspondence, questionnaires, readings, reports, and proposals, for projects that were a particular focus of the Collective. Projects include the Health Hotline, maternal and child health advocacy, and the Women's Cancer Screening program. This series is arranged alphabetically by project then by record type.
Series 5, EVENTS, 1978 - 1997, includes planning materials, agreements, budgets, and correspondence, primarily related to the Collective's annual FIESTA! crafter and performance event. Other events include an anniversary celebration and a phonathon. This series is arranged alphabetically by event name, then date, then record type.
Series 6, PHOTOGRAPHS, 1990 - 1993, contains black and white and color photographs and negatives of various events. Photos are primarily from the Collective's annual FIESTA! crafter and performance event, but also capture a bill signing and a Latin American Student Organization event. This series is arranged alphabetically by subject then date.
Series 7, RESEARCH, 1973 - 1997, includes pamphlets, booklets, information sheets, readings, and clippings on various topics related to the work and interests of the Collective. Topics include cancer prevention, childcare, various forms of birth control, counseling and crisis intervention, menopause, midwifery, and "minority health issues." This series is arranged alphabetically by topic.
Series 8, PRINT MATERIAL, 1973 - 1997, includes booklets, newsletters, and pamphlets. Titles include
Series 9, ELECTRONIC RECORDS ON REMOVABLE CARRIERS, 1992 - 1996, contains audio cassettes and VHS tapes. Recordings include board meetings, "The Danger of Anger," "Esther Zorn/ Mitch Levine lecture," "Birth as an American Rite of Passage," and "Nurturing Health: Creating Wealth and Health." This series is arranged alphabetically by record type then by title written on removable carrier.
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.
Rhode Island Women's Health Collective records, MS-2025-009, Box [#], Folder [#], Pembroke Center Archives, John Hay Library, Brown University.
This collection is arranged into 9 series.
There are no restrictions on access for analog materials, 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. Advance notice is required to view born-digital records. Born-digital materials in this collection may not have been reformatted yet. Researchers may request access to copies by contacting the John Hay Library with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed to hay@brown.edu.
Gift of the Hilary Ross Salk.
A manuscript number was assigned after physical processing. Note that folders in the collection and the identification on the boxes only carry the accession number.
See also the 2024 Pembroke Center Oral History Project interview with members of the Rhode Island Women's Health Collective: https://sites.brown.edu/pembrokeoralhistory/2024/11/04/rhode-island-womens-health-collective/ and the 1988 Pembroke Center Oral History Project interview with founder Hilary Salk: https://sites.brown.edu/pembrokeoralhistory/2023/06/27/hilary-berger-ross-class-of-1963/ ; Hilary Salk's 2011 oral history with the Yiddish Book Center: https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/oral-histories/interviews/woh-fi-0000173/hilary-salk-2011 ; The Sarah Doyle Center for Women and Gender records at Brown University: https://www.riamco.org/render?eadid=US-RPB-of-1zsa-1 ; The Women's Liberation Union of Rhode Island records at the Rhode Island Historical Society: https://www.rihs.org/mssinv/MSS156.htm ; The Theresa El-Amin papers at Duke University: https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/elamintheresa