Dr. Anne Fausto-Sterling is a leading expert in feminist and scientific inquiry. Until her retirement in 2014, Fausto-Sterling held the Nancy Duke Lewis Chair as Professor Emerita of Biology and Gender Studies in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Biochemistry at Brown University. In addition to her academic positions, she is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Integrating feminism and science, Fausto-Sterling is an activist as well as a scholar, working to challenge entrenched scientific beliefs in society as well as the academy.
Fausto-Sterling was born in 1944 in Queens, New York to Philip and Dorothy Sterling. She became an activist early in life, primarily involved with movements for peace, civil rights, and issues surrounding gender, sexuality, and feminism. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1965 with a degree in zoology and completed her doctoral studies in developmental genetics at Brown University.
In 1966, Fausto-Sterling married Nelson Fausto (1936-2012), a notable pathologist at the University of Washington. The marriage ended in divorce in 1992. In 2004, Fausto-Sterling married the Pulitzer-winning playwright Paula Vogel, writing about her gay marriage and relationship in a letter to editor of the Providence Journal entitled, "The Social Good of Same Sex Marriage." Fausto-Sterling also offered "Testimony to the Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee on H-5744 (the bill ending marriage discrimination)" in 2009.
Over her teaching career, Fausto-Sterling developed courses including "The Biology of Gender," "Vertebrate Embryology," "History of Embryology and Genetics in 20th Century US," and "Social Issues in Biology." In 2002-2003, she directed the Pembroke Center's research seminar on "Theories of Embodiment." In addition to teaching at Brown for over forty years, she has been a visiting faculty member at institutions throughout the U.S. and abroad in departments of Biology, Medical Science, Gender Studies and Science Studies.
Fausto-Sterling's revolutionary research applies gender theory and cultural difference to biology and gender development, challenging categories of difference – and corresponding assignments of "good" or "bad" – as natural and exposing the cultural production of difference that science obscures as natural and normal sex and gender. Instead of interrogating the body through categories of difference in traditional scientific epistemology, Fausto-Sterling applies dynamic systems theory to break the dichotomy of nature/nurture and challenge our ideas of science as objective and apolitical. Her published work engages topics of gender and science, intersexuality, homosexuality and the construction of heterosexuality, race and science, and rethinking the nature/nurture divide. Involving those with lived experience in her studies, Fausto-Sterling's archive points to her work as revolutionary not only formally, but personally, transforming the ways in which people think about their own bodies and selves.
As the author of over sixty scholarly articles and three books, Fausto-Sterling has published widely both within and beyond the academy. Her books Myths of Gender: Biological Theories About Women and Men (1985) and Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality (2000) and the article, "The Five Sexes" (1993), demonstrate the ways science acts to politicize and produce the body and have been transformative in the academy, public discourse, and social policy. Her most recent work focuses on applying dynamic systems theory to the study of gender differentiation in early childhood. She is a frequent commentator for several major media outlets and contributes regularly to the Boston Review, Huffington Post and Psychology Today.
This collection consists of the professional papers of Anne Fausto-Sterling, Brown University Professor Emerita of Biology and Gender Studies and scholar of the biology of gender and gender differences. The collection documents Fausto-Sterling's academic career, feminist activism, research, and writings, and includes correspondence, teaching materials, lab notebooks and slides, subject files, and print materials dating from 1961-2019. The collection is arranged into 13 series.
Series 1, CORRESPONDENCE, 1971-2019, contains personal and professional correspondence, letters to the editor by Fausto-Sterling, and reader letters to Fausto-Sterling in response to her published works. Of particular note is correspondence on intersexuality between Fausto-Sterling and intersex people (#1.38-2.6); correspondence with notable women scientists such as Ruth Hubbard (#4.3); and reader letters from trans citizens and other members of the public (#4.11-16). Fausto-Sterling's original folder titles are written in quotations. The processor created all other folder titles. This series is arranged alphabetically by provenance then by first name or subject.
Series 2, CAREER DEVELOPMENT, 1964-2010, includes biographical sketches of Fausto-Sterling, curriculum vitae, and undergraduate and graduate-school work. Fausto-Sterling created the 22 folders titled "Curriculum vitae building activities" in preparation for annual performance reviews, of which 3 final copies are in this series. Files in this section contain various materials including correspondence, draft talks, conference material, and course information for classes taught by Fausto-Sterling. Researchers may want to pick through this section if they are unable to locate specific information in other areas of the collection. Fausto-Sterling's original folder titles are written in quotations. The processor created all other folder titles. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type.
Series 3, GRANTS, 1979-2010, contains grant applications and proposals by Fausto-Sterling. These include the American Council of Learned Societies, the Ford Foundation, and the National Science Foundation. This series is arranged alphabetically by organization then by record type.
Series 4, MEMBERSHIPS, 1986-2000, includes director's files, meeting materials, handwritten notes, and correspondence for various organizations to which Fausto-Sterling belonged. Organizations include Brown University Affirmative Action Monitoring Committee, Coalition to Preserve Choice, and Marxist Feminist Group Three. This series is arranged alphabetically by organization then by record type.
Series 5, CONFERENCES, 1971-2019, includes correspondence, papers by others, itineraries, and pamphlets for various conferences attended by Fausto-Sterling. Conferences include the Human Genome Diversity Workshop, National Radical Women's Conference, Think Tank to Re-Theorize Women's Health, and Third World Organization for Women in Science Conference. This series is arranged alphabetically by conference then by record type.
Series 6, TEACHING, 1971-2008, includes lecture notes, exams, readings, syllabi, and teaching evaluations for courses taught by Fausto-Sterling. Notable courses include Analysis of Development; Biology of Gender; Gender, Race and the Complexities of Science and Technology; and Women and Minorities in Science. This series is arranged alphabetically by course then by record type.
Series 7, WRITINGS AND RELATED, 1970-2020, is arranged into two subseries: Subseries 1, Books, and Subseries 2, Other Writings.
Series 7, subseries 1, BOOKS, 1984-2020, includes drafts, correspondence, publishing material, research, and visual materials related to books by Fausto-Sterling. The majority of materials derive from Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality, while others relate to Myths Of Gender: Biological Theories About Women and Men. Fausto-Sterling's original folder titles are written in quotations. The processor created all other folder titles. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by book title then by record type.
Series 7, subseries 2, OTHER WRITINGS, 1970-2020, includes drafts and correspondence related to articles, chapters, talks, or papers by Fausto-Sterling. Works of note include "Beyond Nature/Nurture: Gender, Race and the Construction of Difference," "Evolutionary Psychology and Darwinian Feminism," "The Five Sexes," and "Whatever Happened to Planaria? C.M. Child and the Physiology of Inheritance." Of particular interest is Fausto-Sterling's original and annotated review of Shulamith Firestone's Dialectic of Sex (#22.28). Fausto-Sterling's original folder titles are written in quotations. The processor created all other folder titles. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by project title then alphabetically by record type.
Series 8, LABORATORY AND FIELD RESEARCH, 1963-2010, is arranged into three subseries: Subseries 1, Laboratory Notebooks, Subseries 2, Research Files, and Subseries 3, Slides.
Series 8, subseries 1, LABORATORY NOTEBOOKS, 1963-1997, contains notebooks created by Fausto-Sterling or her laboratory assistants. Topics include "meiosis denaturation mosquito" and "RGEN data." Fausto-Sterling's original folder titles are written in quotations. The processor created all other folder titles. This subseries is arranged chronologically by notebook date then alphabetically by topic.
Series 8, subseries 2, RESEARCH FILES, 1966-2011, contains handwritten notes and data collected on various topics. Topics include "rudimentary preliminary studies and analysis of wing phenotype," "pupal wing development," and children and gender differences. Fausto-Sterling's original folder titles are written in quotations. The processor created all other folder titles. This subseries is arranged chronologically by content date then alphabetically by folder title.
Series 8, subseries 3, SLIDES, 1967-1995 contains microscope slides regarding topics such as chromosomes, embryos, fluorescence, ovaries, and wings. This subseries is arranged chronologically by the date on slide boxes.
Series 9, SUBJECT FILES, 1966-2015, includes annotated readings, handwritten notes, and clippings. Topics include animal models for human sexuality, feminist curriculum for math and science, human genome, intersex people, Sarah Bartmann, and women in science. Fausto-Sterling's original folder titles are written in quotations. The processor created all other folder titles. This series is arranged alphabetically by subject.
Series 10, PRINT MATERIALS, 1961-2018, is arranged into two subseries: Subseries 1, Print Materials by Subject, and Subseries 2, Print Materials by Title.
Series 10, subseries 1, PRINT MATERIALS BY SUBJECT, 1961-2003, contains pamphlets, newsletters, newspapers, and bound booklets. Topics include Cuba in the 1970s, feminism in the 1960s and 1970s, the Vietnam War, and Women's Liberation. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by subject.
Series 10, subseries 2, PRINT MATERIALS BY TITLE, 1962-2013, contains pamphlets, newsletters, newspapers, and bound booklets. Titles include Association for Women in Science magazine, North American Congress on Latin America newsletter, Options: Rhode Island's LGBT Community News Magazine, Radical Teacher: A News Journal of Socialist Theory and Practice, Sage: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women, and Studies on the Left. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by title.
Series 11, OVERSIZE MATERIALS, 1974-2014, includes a women-in-science calendar, charts of planaria and wings, illustrations for Sexing the Body, and posters for lectures by Fausto-Sterling. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type then by poster title.
Series 12, ELECTRONIC RECORDS, 1977-2011, contains disks, cassettes, CDs, DVDs, hard drives, and VHS tapes. Records include book, paper, and talk drafts, television appearances by Fausto-Sterling, and television episodes related to Fausto-Sterling's scholarship. Fausto-Sterling's original carrier titles are written in quotations. The processor created all other folder titles. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type then by title on carrier.
Series 13, RESTRICTED, 1982-2010, contains two folders of letters of recommendation by Fausto-Sterling for colleagues and students. This series is closed until January 1, 2068 after which date the materials will open without restriction.
All researchers seeking to publish materials from the collections of the John Hay Library are requested to complete a Notice of Intent to Publish, available on the John Hay Library website or by request, 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.
Anne Fausto-Sterling papers, MS. 92.9, Box [#], Folder [#], Pembroke Center Archives, John Hay Library, Brown University.
This collection is arranged into 13 series.
There are no restrictions on access for analog materials, except for Series 13, RESTRICTED. All items in Series 13 are closed until January 1, 2068 after which date 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 any audiovisual media or born-digital records that may exist in this collection. Audiovisual media and born-digital records 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. Access to original physical audiovisual or born-digital media is restricted.
Gift of Anne Fausto-Sterling beginning in 1992.
This collection was part of the Pembroke Center's Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive until 2024 when collections were recataloged. All collections previously grouped under that title are now searchable under the subject headings "Women and Gender at Brown University" or "Feminist Activism in Rhode Island."
The Brown University Library also holds the Pembroke Center Oral History Collection (OH.1S.2013.002) that captures the experiences of women faculty and students at Pembroke College and Brown University from 1911 to the present. View finding aid here: https://www.riamco.org/render?eadid=US-RPB-oh.1s.2013.002 Fausto-Sterling contributed an interview to this collection in 2014 that you can view