Women of Brown United collection (OF.1Q.2024.001)

Biographical/Historical Note

Women of Brown United (WBU), a women's liberation group at Brown University, was founded in September 1970 and endured for over twenty years. Its members campaigned for many issues directly related to women on campus, including accessing reproductive healthcare, advocating for equal admissions, increasing female faculty, establishing a women's studies program, and addressing violence against women.

In the Providence community, WBU established a Rhode Island coalition to fight for the legalization of abortion, helped set up the Brown/Fox Point Early Childcare Education Center, and created the Rhode Island Feminist Theatre. In later years, WBU members were active as safety escorts at Rhode Island abortion clinics, and WBU's Socialist Feminist Caucus founded Sojourner House, a domestic violence shelter.

See also: A History of Women of Brown United (1970-1991) by Mimi Pichey