Born in 1955, Heidi Elizabeth Boghosian is the daughter of Marilyn Cummins and Varujan Boghosian, notable Armenian-American artist and professor of Art at Dartmouth, Yale, Brown University and other institutions. Growing up, Heidi Boghosian lived in multiple locations on the East Coast, including in Provincetown where the Boghosians had a family home and where Varujan Boghosian was a founder of Provincetown's Long Point Gallery.
Boghosian earned an A.B. in English from Brown University in 1977, studying with esteemed Professors Richard Scholes, founder of Brown's Semiotics program and John Hawkes, novelist and author of The Beetle Leg (1951). She earned a master's degree in mass communications from Boston University, College of Communication, and a J.D. from Temple University Law School, where she was editor in chief of the Temple Political and Civil Rights Law Review.
Boghosian is a longtime Lower East Side resident and New York City-based privacy advocate, attorney, author, and radio host specializing in surveillance, civil liberties, and government overreach. In the 1980s, Boghosian served as editor of the East Villager, a community newspaper that covered topics including homelessness, gentrification, and public health. In 1988, Boghosian witnessed the Tompkins Square Park Riots between New York City police and protestors defending park squatters. She also witnessed the impact of the AIDS crises in the city among other historic periods.
Boghosian currently serves as executive director of the A.J. Muste Foundation for Peace and Justice. She was previously the executive director of the National Lawyers Guild, a progressive bar association, where she oversaw legal defense for individuals targeted by government surveillance and prosecution. Boghosian is the co-host of Law and Disorder, a civil liberties radio show and podcast which airs on Pacifica Radio's WBAI and over 150 stations nationwide.
Boghosain's writing focuses on how technology, corporate data collection, and government surveillance impact civil liberties and democratic participation. Her works include
This collection consists of the personal and professional papers of Heidi Boghosian (b. 1955), Brown University class of 1977. Boghosian is a New York City-based privacy advocate, attorney, author, and radio host specializing in state repression and surveillance, civil liberties, surveillance, and government overreach, and state repression. She earned her undergraduate degree at Brown University. As an attorney, Boghosian has represented/advised a number of notable clients who identify as political prisoners including Mumia Abu-Jamal and Ross Ulbricht, creator of Silk Road. The collection includes biographical and professional materials, course work, book drafts, amicus briefs, photographs, handwritten notes, and correspondence throughout. The collection spans from 1955 to 2024. The collection includes biographical and professional materials, course work, book drafts, amicus briefs, photographs, handwritten notes, and correspondence throughout. The collection spans from 1955 to 2024 and is arranged into 6 series and 2 subseries.
Series 1, BIOGRAPHICAL, 1955 – 2020, includes personal correspondence, photographs, invitations and ephemera. Items of particular interest are Boghosian's correspondence with Mugs and Dad (her mother and father). Original folder titles are written in quotations. The processor created all other folder titles. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type.
Series 2, EDUCATION, 1971 – 1996, includes course work, related correspondence, and a student handbook. Noteworthy items include her yearbook from Temple University Law School and notes for Boghosain's student film at Boston University. Original folder titles are written in quotations. The processor created all other folder titles. This series is arranged alphabetically by institution and then by record type.
Series 3, CAREER, 1980 – 2023, includes materials from throughout Boghosian's professional life and consists of two subseries.
Series 3, Subseries 1, NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD, 1987 - 2023, includes related correspondence, reports, proposals, and photographs. Items of particular interest are correspondence from Mumia Abu-Jamal. Original folder titles are written in quotations. The processor created all other folder titles. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by topic and then by record type.
Series 3, Subseries 2, OTHER INSTITUTIONS, 1980 - 1995, includes related correspondence, reports, proposals, and clippings. Notable items include content and publishing materials mockups for the
Series 4, WRITINGS, 1988 – 2024, includes articles, annotated book drafts, amicus briefs, and related correspondence and research. Items of particular interest include annotated drafts and related research and correspondence for
Series 5, PRINT MATERIALS, 1968 – 2021, includes amicus briefs by others, magazines, newspapers and flyers, and posters. Notable items include
Series 6, RESTRICTED, 2017 – 2024, includes correspondence. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type. This series is closed until January 1, 2050, after which point the materials will open without restriction.
Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Heid Boghosian papers, MS-2025-008, Box [#], Folder [#], Pembroke Center Archives, John Hay Library, Brown University.
This collection is arranged into 6 series and 2 subseries.
There are no restrictions on access for analog materials, except for Series 6, RESTRICTED is restricted until January 1, 2050, after which point the materials will open without restriction. 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 Heidi Boghosian beginning in 2025.