For All the People: A Century of Citizen Action in Health Care Reform: Identity and Activism

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Women and Their Bodies, 1970
First edition of Women and Their Bodies course book, produced by the Boston Women’s Health Collective, 1970
Courtesy The Boston Women’s Health Book Collective

The pamphlet that later became Our Bodies, Ourselves inspired women around the country to start self-help groups and feminist health clinics.
Protest against forced sterilization, ca. 1971
Women of color activists protest against forced sterilization, ca. 1971
Courtesy Kevin Begos and Southern Conference Educational Fund

Women of color activists combined feminist and antiracist analyses to develop a more inclusive definition of reproductive rights, arguing not only for rights to abortion and birth control, but also for the right to be free from forced sterilization.
Chico Feminist Women’s Health Center founders, 1975
Betty Szudy, Dido Hasper, Wendi Jones, Judy Rutherford and Janice Turrini (left to right) were among several women who helped launch the Chico Feminist Women’s Health Center in California, 1975
Courtesy Feminist Women’s Health Center

Women’s rights activists organized health clinics to provide women-centered health education, reproductive services, natural childbirth, and all types of medical care. The Chico Feminist Women’s Health Center in California began by offering educational materials and instruction in self-examination for women, and later became a full-service medical clinic.
Durham Women’s Health Cooperative, ca. 1970s
Hours of operation sign for the Durham Women’s Health Cooperative at Duke University, ca. 1970s
Courtesy of Margery Sved Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University

Many women’s clinics, such as the Durham Women’s Health Cooperative in North Carolina, initially had no medical staff. They were started by activists who offered information on birth control and abortion, and referrals to sympathetic local physicians.

1. Women and Their Bodies, 1970

First edition of Women and Their Bodies course book, produced by the Boston Women’s Health Collective, 1970

Courtesy The Boston Women’s Health Book Collective

The pamphlet that later became Our Bodies, Ourselves inspired women around the country to start self-help groups and feminist health clinics.

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For All the People: A Century of Citizen Action in Health Care Reform

ExhibitionIdentity and Activism

First edition of Women and Their Bodies course book, produced by the Boston Women’s Health Collective, 1970

Courtesy The Boston Women’s Health Book Collective

Women of color activists protest against forced sterilization, ca. 1971

Courtesy Kevin Begos and Southern Conference Educational Fund

Betty Szudy, Dido Hasper, Wendi Jones, Judy Rutherford and Janice Turrini (left to right) were among several women who helped launch the Chico Feminist Women’s Health Center in California, 1975

Courtesy Feminist Women’s Health Center

Hours of operation sign for the Durham Women’s Health Cooperative at Duke University, ca. 1970s

Courtesy of Margery Sved Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University

First edition of Women and Their Bodies course book, produced by the Boston Women’s Health Collective, 1970

Courtesy The Boston Women’s Health Book Collective