Carolyn Ruth Swift (1928-2013) (also published under the name Carolyn R. Lenz, or Carolyn R. Swift Lenz) was a professor of English and Women’s Studies at Rhode Island College, an advocate for political causes such as ERA (Equal Rights Amendment), and a pioneering scholar of feminist Shakespeare scholarship. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from University of Chicago in 1948 and her M.A. in English Literature from Columbia University in 1950. She taught high school at Rosemary Hall in Greenwich, CT and Prospect Hill School in New Haven, CT, and at public schools in Swansea, MA and Cranston, RI until she earned her Ph.D. in English from Brown University in 1973 and joined the faculty at Rhode Island College.
In her academic career, she was a scholar of feminist Shakespeare studies. She co-edited The Woman’s Part: Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare (1980), an anthology of recent feminist scholarship on Shakespeare, with Gayle Green and Carol Thomas Neely. In 1976 she organized a special meeting at 1976’s MLA convention entitled “Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare” which heavily influenced a 1981-1982 two-part special issue of Women’s Studies, edited by Gayle Greene, on feminist Shakespeare scholarship.
She was an advocate for civil rights of minority groups and was a founder and twice chairperson of the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union. She was a member of the Rhode Island Congress of Racial Equality, Senior Action in a Gay Environment, Rhode Island Senior Agenda, Massachusetts Senior Action Council, and the Gray Panthers, an organization that targeted intersectional political issues around ageism.
Swift grew up in Bloomfield, NJ, and was married to John W. Lenz for 28 years until their divorce in 1979. She had two sons, Dr. Peter S. Lenz and Thomas M. Lenz. Edith A. Kur (1936-2023) was her partner of 31 years until Swift’s death in 2013.
The bulk of this collection consists of Carolyn R. Swift’s manuscripts and correspondence related to the anthology Swift co-edited, The Woman’s Part: Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare (1980). Correspondence with potential publishers, co-editors, and contributors are included, as well as draft manuscripts with editors’ markings.
The collection also includes interview transcripts and tape recordings of oral history interviews with women of Providence as part of assignments completed for Swift’s 1979 GS-361 class at Rhode Island College, “Women and Words.”
The rest of the collection is comprised of Swift’s manuscripts, research notes, and research materials for projects such as advocacy for ERA and other political causes, especially gender- and sexuality-related causes, a grant-funded project on Martin Luther, a Rhode Island-based public humanities program called Commuter Classroom, and a special issue of Women’s Studies on Shakespeare.
Researchers are advised to contact Rhode Island College Special Collections for questions regarding permissions to reproduce, distribute, or otherwise publish material from this collection. Although Rhode Island College has physical ownership of the collection, it does not necessarily hold literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
The collection is open for research. Series 2: “Women and Words” contains a number of restricted materials. Please contact Special Collections for more information. The following materials in the “Women and Words” series have been restricted at the interviewee’s request: “Joanne Wrobleski Interview with Anonymous Release” has been restricted to protect the anonymity of the interviewee by her request; the transcript and recording of her anonymous interview is open for research. “Lori DelGallo Interview with Anna Cotoia” has been restricted at the interviewee’s request. “Sheree Nelson Interview with Gertrude H. Patterson” has been restricted at the interviewee’s request. The following materials in series 2: “Women and Words” have been restricted due to the presence of FERPA-protected grades. Please contact Special Collections at least two weeks prior to needing access to that series so we can redact appropriately: “Peer Evaluations of Interviews” “Lori Pisaturo Interview with Arlene Fall Transcript and Analysis” “Diane Allard Interview with Catherine E. Tancrelle Transcript, Analysis, and Index” “Dolores Ciambrone Interview with Eva DeCarlo Transcript, Analysis, and Index”
Carolyn R. Swift papers, MSS-0150, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island College
This collection is arranged into eight series. Each one is arranged chronologically.
The collection was donated by Carolyn R. Swift in 1981, with additions to the collection from 1980-1987.
The collection was initially arranged and partially described in 1986 by Special Collections staff. The collection was rearranged and the collection further described by Special Collections Assistant Anne Boylan in 2024 and an addition arranged and described in 2026.
Works used in preparation of inventory: Greene, Gayle. “Introduction.” Women’s Studies, vol. 9, no. 1, 1981, pp. 1-2. “Carolyn Ruth Swift, 85.” Jewish Rhode Island, 5 Dec. 2013, https://www.jewishrhody.com/stories/carolyn-ruth-swift-85,3018. “Carolyn Swift Obituary.” 19 Nov. 2013, https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/carolyn-swift-obituary?id=19422939.
The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Harvard University holds Swift’s papers related to her sex-discrimination complaint against Rhode Island College.
Publications were removed from the collection and added to the Special Collections Carolyn R. Swift Rare Book Collection and the Alternative and Underground Press collection. Contact Special Collections for further information.
The series contains manuscript copies for contributions to The Woman’s Part, as well as correspondence, primarily between Swift, contributors to the volume, and co-editors. This series is divided into two subseries: manuscripts and correspondence.
Manuscripts are organized by date, and then by author.
Correspondence is organized by date.
This series contains materials from Carolyn Swift’s fall 1979 General Studies 361 course, “Women and Words.” It includes transcripts and tape recordings of interviews as well as student written work. Series is organized by interviewer. This series contains a number of restricted materials. The following materials in the “Women and Words” series have been restricted at the interviewee’s request: “Joanne Wrobleski Interview with Anonymous Release” has been restricted to protect the anonymity of the interviewee by her request; the transcript and recording of her anonymous interview is open for research. “Lori DelGallo Interview with Anna Cotoia” has been restricted at the interviewee’s request. “Sheree Nelson Interview with Gertrude H. Patterson” has been restricted at the interviewee’s request. The following materials in series 2: “Women and Words” have been restricted due to the presence of FERPA-protected grades. Please contact Special Collections at least two weeks prior to needing access to that series so we can redact appropriately: “Peer Evaluations of Interviews” “Lori Pisaturo Interview with Arlene Fall Transcript and Analysis” “Diane Allard Interview with Catherine E. Tancrelle Transcript, Analysis, and Index” “Dolores Ciambrone Interview with Eva DeCarlo Transcript, Analysis, and Index”
This series contains Carolyn Swift’s research materials, writing, and collected printed matter related to the feminist activist causes in which she was involved. The bulk of the collection is her advocacy for a RI state ERA (Equal Rights Amendment); series also includes collected literature on feminism and Judaism, gender equity and higher education, and printed matter from feminist conferences.
This subseries contains Carolyn Swift’s research materials and writing in service of advocating for a Rhode Island Equal Rights Amendment. It also includes newspaper clippings, literature, and mailings around ERA, gay rights advocacy, and same-sex marriage.
This subseries contains photocopies, printed matter, and some correspondence related to feminist causes such as gender equity in higher education; feminism and Judaism, especially mixing of the genders in synagogues and study groups, and materials from feminist conferences and meetings.
This series contains manuscripts of pieces intended for publication in a special Shakespeare issue of Women’s Studies, vol. 9, nos. 1-2 (1981-1982). Though not a credited co-editor, Swift organized the special MLA meeting on feminist Shakespeare criticism which directly contributed to the issue, and collaborated extensively with Gayle Greene, editor. The series also contains correspondence related to the issue.
Manuscripts are organized by date, then by author.
Correspondence is organized by date, then by author.
This series contains materials related to the Commuter Classroom public humanities initiative, funded by the Rhode Island Committee on the Humanities. The initiative, which Swift spearheaded, placed academic provocations about canonical figures in history and literature on Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority (RIPTA) bus signage, along with accompanying leaflets that encouraged readers to respond to discussion prompts by calling or writing to Commuter Classrooms. The series includes correspondence with participating scholars who authored text for the project, grant applications and related correspondence with the Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities, drafts and final versions of signage text, and more. One folder, “Production and printing,” is restricted due to the presence of social security numbers; please contact Special Collections to request access to redacted versions.
This series contains newsletters, memoranda, pamphlets, brochures, and posters related to feminist activism around education in New South Wales.
This series contains materials related to Carolyn Swift’s publication of an article entitled “A Recently Discovered Manuscript Account of Luther’s Last Prayer” in Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte - Archive for Reformation History in 1975. The series contains documentation of grants received in support, correspondence related to the project, Swift’s notes and translations, manuscripts of the article text, as well as a copy of the published article.
This series contains materials related to Carolyn Swift’s projects and academic career that do not align with other series.