The Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, archives, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women’s history. The Collection strives to make visible women and other gender minorities who have typically been invisible in the historical record and seeks to document women’s diversity and lived experiences.
As part of documenting the history of activism relating to women's health, we have collected the papers of organizations and individuals who played and continue to play key roles in advocating for reproductive rights, and later reproductive justice at large. Bulk of materials covers the 1970s through the 2010’s.
Below the collections are organized by organizations, individuals, oral histories, and projects & events. Where applicable under individual's records, we list select organizations the individual participated in and link to those collection finding aids.
SSC-MS-00699
International women of color organization, Welfare rights activists, Reproductive rights and Women's health advocates.
The Records are primarily related to the Bay Area Chapter of the Alliance and contain documents that articulate and demonstrate the challenges of developing a revolutionary mass organization through position and discussion papers, drafts, and publications produced by the Alliance. There is abundant documentation of the processes of coalition and social investigation that AAWO engaged in reproductive rights advocacy. The collection is rich in documentation of the organization Somos Hermanas in Nicaragua. Types of materials include committee reports; meeting notes; political discussion papers; study guides.
SSC-MS-00487
Women of color, reproductive rights, and women's health advocacy organization.
The records consist of materials pertaining to the administration and the public outreach work of the BWHI, including board of directors files, reports, correspondence, conference materials, photograph albums, publications, memorabilia, and audiovisual materials. There is a large amount of publications including promotional and educational materials produced by the organization including books, pamphlets, posters, brochures, fact sheets, newsletters, self-help manuals, and videos.
Associated individuals represented in Smith College Special Collections
SSC-MS-00768
The collection contains the business records of the Committee on Women, Population, & the Environment (CWPE), a multi-racial alliance that works on the local, regional, national, and international levels to oppose population control policies that blame overpopulation for poverty, hunger, environmental degradation and political volatility.
SSC-MS-00717
Forward Together is a multi-racial organization dedicated to working for reproductive justice. The collection includes APIRH/ACRJ/Forward Together publications, VHS tape, and posters. Digital files include photographs, Board documents, staff information, staff planning and strategy session documents, Strong Families documents, Youth Organizing documents, and video footage.
Names over time:
1989: Asians and Pacific Islanders for Choice (APIC)
1992: Asian and Pacific Islanders for Reproductive Health (APIRH)
2004: Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice (ACRJ)
2013: Forward Together
SSC-MS-00586
Advocacy group which focuses on the rights and needs of Asian and Pacific Islander American Women.
Records include administrative files, correspondence, conference and retreat materials, reports, newsletters, articles, photos, videos, and research files. Major topics include women's rights, reproductive rights, women's health, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender rights, immigration reform, domestic violence, human trafficking, labor reform, economic justice, voter registration initiatives, and the history of NAPAWF activism.
SSC-MS-00686
Women's health advocacy organization.
National Latina Health Organization (NLHO) was the first national organization by and for Latinas working on health issues and using the Self-Help framework pioneered by the National Black Women's Health Project. Based in San Francisco, the organization was especially committed to providing young Latinas safe spaces in which to discuss health concerns and also ran workshops for teenagers on building self-esteem. In 1997 the NLHO became a charter member of a new organization, the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective.
The records include health education and workshop curricula, office files, surveys, conference materials, and newsletters. The NLHO's programming for Latina health issues and their teen programs are well documented. There are also some records of the Board of Directors and a few financial records.
Associated individuals represented in Smith College Special Collections
SSC-MS-00527
The collection contains Newsletters and pamphlets of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, an organization that ensures the fundamental human right to reproductive health for Latinas, their families and their communities through education, advocacy and coalition building. Previously called the “Latina Initiative” and associated with Catholics for Free Choice (now Catholics for Choice).
SSC-MS-00526
The Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center Records consist of correspondence, financial records, legal documents, news clippings, photographs, press releases, publications, studies and reports, and subject files. The bulk of the records date from 1988 to 2003 and focus on NAWHERC's administration; funding, programs, studies, and work in coalition with other women's health, indigenous rights, environmental stewardship, and women of color organizations.
Major topics found throughout these papers include Native American health and cultural survival, rights of indigenous peoples, alcoholism and other drug dependency problems, abortion and reproductive health, fetal alcohol syndrome, diabetes, breast cancer, HIV/AIDS, environmental toxins, sexually-transmitted diseases, and sexual and domestic violence.
Associated individuals represented in Smith College Special Collections
SSC-MS-00684
SisterLove is the first women's HIV/AIDS organization in the southeastern United States.
The SisterLove records include administrative and program files from the founding of SisterLove to the early 2000s. Particularly well documented are SisterLove's grant applications, their residential program for HIV positive women called "Love House," the Healthy Love Parties, the Women's HIV/AIDS Resources Project (WHARP), their programs in South Africa, and their outreach efforts.
In addition, there are materials related to other organizations who funded SisterLove, who worked alongside SisterLove on similar issues and projects, or who SisterLove was a member of, including SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective and the National Black Women's Health Project (now the Black Women's Health Imperative) and Women's AIDS Prevention Project (WAPP) (precursor to SisterLove).
Associated individuals represented in Smith College Special Collections
SSC-MS-00550
Reproductive rights advocacy and healthcare reform organization.
Files include proposals, founding documents, correspondence, administrative files, reports, strategic and program planning, website files, membership campaigns and dues lists, a membership survey, publications including the Collective Voices newsletter, meeting minutes, Loretta Ross interviews and articles, fundraising files, media kits, principles of unity and mission statements, and legal files.
While most of the planning and agenda documents are for National policy, they also include planning for specific communities, including for African-American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Latina, and Middle Eastern/Arab American women.
Specific projects or topics represented in these files include:
There is also a significant amount of material related to the SisterSong national membership meetings, conferences, and workshops, including background information and audiovisual recordings.
Conferences and meetings include:
Associated individuals represented in Smith College Special Collections
SSC-MS-00817
The Population and Development Program (PopDev) operated from Hampshire College, Amherst, MA from 1986 to 2020.
PopDev produced multiple in-house publications and reports, hosted events and meetings that highlighted international scholars and activists, published popular commentary that spoke out against population control in the media, and collaborated closely with other feminist activists and groups.
Records document PopDev's administrative history, scholarship, and advocacy for reproductive freedom, environmental and climate justice, peace, and immigrants’ rights. Major topics in the publications, research, and curriculum files include climate change from feminist and social justice perspectives, population control propaganda, and contraception safety.
Lists of organizations the individual participated in that are represented well in the collection are listed. Publications by the individuals that would support additional learning are also listed.
SSC-MS-00652
Health reformer; reproductive rights advocate. Founder of the National Black Women's Health Project (later Black women’s Health Imperative).
Papers document Avery's work as an activist in the field of black women's health and reproductive rights, including clippings, articles, correspondence, financial information, conference materials, speaking engagements, memorabilia, and audiovisual materials.
Organizations
SSC-MS-00677
The bulk of the papers date from 1990 to 2005 and focus on Asetoyer's activism on indigenous rights, women's health, and reproductive justice issues on the local, national, and international level. Major topics include Fetal Alcohol Syndrome; HIV/AIDS and Native Americans; economic development; health care for rural and underserved populations; links between the environment and health; and indigenous women's activism and leadership. Types of materials include correspondence, speeches, press releases, reports, journal and newspaper articles, transcripts of interviews, writings, and memorabilia.
Select Organizations
Select Events
SSC-MS-00683
Dázon Dixon Diallo is founder and president of SisterLove, Inc., established in 1989, the first women’s HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Justice organization in the southeastern United States.
Dixon Diallo papers include materials relating to the various organizations with which she is involved. There are also notes regarding organizing, conferences and workshops attended; course notes and papers from both college and graduate school; photographs, both personal and professional; day planners and audiovisual materials.
Organizations
Events
SSC-MS-00504
Reproductive Rights advocate, Civil Rights activist, feminist, women's health activist.
Papers contain speeches, writings, correspondence, organization and conference files, subject files, periodicals, memorabilia and audiovisual materials. The papers pertain primarily to her activism for reproductive justice rights for women of color, anti-violence, and international human rights work. The collection is particularly strong in issues related to black women's health. Other topics include abortion, women's health, teenage pregnancy, housing, socialism, South Africa, and national political activities.
Organization files include printed material, board meeting documents, correspondence, memorabilia and notes that document the numerous organizations that Ross founded and was active in, as well as related organizations on which she collected information.
Select Organizations
Related Publications
SSC-MS-00620
Health reformer.
The papers document Luz Martinez's document her leadership role in fostering the health and well-being of minority women and records and photographs of her activism with the National Latina Health Organization include Board files, program files, posters, artwork, and photomontages; and her work with the Sister Song Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective.
Select Organizations
SSC-MS-00539
Reproductive rights advocate.
Papers include organization, conference, and symposia materials; appointment books; writings; educational records; correspondence; photographs; and memorabilia. They document Rodriguez's many professional activities, especially her activism in health and education for women of color.
Select Organizations
In addition, they document her activities on behalf of Hispanics in New York City such as Baile Boricua Dance Company, Charas, and Dominican Womens' Development Center; as well as other neighborhood, educational, family-oriented, and health-related organizations and initiatives.
SSC-MS-00636
Reproductive rights advocate, academic.
Papers include newsletters and publications related to abortion rights and reproductive justice; memorabilia; manuscripts; records of conferences attended; and administrative documents. Her scholarship and teaching is focused primarily on abortion rights and access, reproductive and sexual rights and health, and legal theory.
Organizations
Publications
SSC-MS-00563
Political activist; Health reformer; Feminist; Civil rights activist.
The Nkenge Touré papers consist of Touré's activism in health reform and civil and political rights for African American women. The papers consist of extensive files pertaining to Nkenge Touré's activism in health reform and civil and political rights for African American women. SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective and the D.C. Rape Crisis Center are well-documented, as are many conferences and workshops in which Touré participated. Touré's international work in these fields is also represented, and there is a small amount of material about the Black Panthers. Tapes of Touré's radio program, In Our Voices, are also included.
Select Organizations
SSC-MS-00629
Feminist; Administrator; Reproductive rights advocate.
Early records of the Reproductive Rights National Network, and materials documenting international women's rights organizing. Topics include reproductive rights advocacy and politics, lesbian and gay liberation, grassroots organizing, international women's rights, and rights for women laborers in the U.S. and in developing countries. Central American and Asian women's organizations are especially well- represented.
Organizations
SSC-MS-00722
The Asian American Reproductive Justice Oral History Project presents oral histories of Asian American women who have been active in the Reproductive Justice movement since the 1980s. The collection includes interviews, transcripts, photographs, published materials, author's note, and original grant proposal.
SSC-MS-00535
Oral History Project documenting the persistence and diversity of organizing for women in the United States. Narrators include labor, peace, and anti-racism activists; artists and writers; lesbian rights advocates; grassroots anti-violence and anti-poverty organizers; and women of color reproductive justice leaders.
Related interviews include (but are not limited to):
SSC-MS-00547
Reproductive rights conference.
"Reproductive Justice For All: A U.S. Policy Conference" was held at Smith College, Northampton, Mass., in November 2005. Records include copies of conference packets, workgroup materials, memorabilia, and video documentation.
Subject areas covered:
Presenters included: Toni M. Bond, Cathy J. Cohen, Lisa Crooms, Leslie Grant, Alice Hearst, Silvia Henriquez, Mia Herndon, Angela Hooton, Lisa C. Ikemoto, Sujatha Jesudason, Brenda Joyner, Anne Keenan, Alia Khan, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Abby Lippman, Sarah Olivia Mercer, Shannon Price Minter, Angela Moreno, Amy Moy, Claudine O'Leary, Nancy Ordover, Karen Pearl, Twila Perry, Dorothy Roberts, Ruthann Robson, Loretta Ross, Rachel Roth, Amy Schalet, Mary Lyndon (Molly) Shanley, Rickie Solinger, Alisa Wellek, and Sang Hee Won.
Related to the presenters:
SSC-MS-00538
Research materials for the book Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organizing for Reproductive Justice (2004) by Jael Miriam Silliman, Loretta Ross, Marlene Fried, and Elena Gutiérrez.
Records include correspondence and emails, notes, reports, abstracts, galley proofs, typescripts, articles, pamphlets, and other printed material.