History of Reproductive Justice Display - Now Online
“Birthing Reproductive Justice: 150 Years of Images and Ideas” provides a visual narrative of catalysts, struggles, and evolution in the movement.
A striking cultural shift emerged in the 1990s as women advocated for the right to control 
their bodies, and more specifically, their reproductive destiny. The movement, led by women of color, developed a framework to give women options for the right to have children, to not have children, and to parent the children they have in safe and healthy environments. Advocates focused on “justice” instead of “choice” to create a more comprehensive social vision and to raise awareness of the connections to societal issues such as health care, racism, economic status, and sexual violence.
The exhibit Birthing Reproductive Justice: 150 Years of Images and Ideas highlights the momentous changes of the 1990s and provides a greater context of reproductive history through the past century and a half.
“This exhibit reflects the growing interest of our faculty, staff, and students in reproductive justice, as a movement and a framework that can inform research,” says Alexandra Stern, Ph.D, a co-leader of the University of Michigan Birthing Reproductive Justice Exhibit Team and professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American Culture, and History.
The exhibit includes elements from five U-M libraries and looks at local angles of historical events in the fight for reproductive justice. “Drawing from the rich special collections in our libraries, the exhibit highlights compelling historical episodes related to reproductive health and reproductive rights that unfolded right here in Ann Arbor and on the University of Michigan campus,” says Dr. Stern. “This history helps us understand the emergence of the reproductive justice movement in the 1990s as a broader approach to reproductive issues and experiences envisioned by women of color.”Dr. Stern says she learned she had an unexpected personal connection to a part of Ann Arbor’s reproductive history. “I discovered that the building that houses my daughter's school served in the 1960s and 1970s as the home of a local program that assisted teenage moms, providing support so they could complete high school while caring for their infant and toddler children,” says Dr. Stern. “I like knowing that history is part of the facility where she now goes to school every day.”
The exhibit was installed as a companion to the conference Reproductive Justice: Activists, Advocates, and Academics in Ann Arbor May 29-31. The exhibit may be viewed in the North Lobby cases of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library through June 10 or online here.
The Birthing Reproductive Justice Exhibit Team includes Kate Saylor, Outreach Coordinator and U-M School of Nursing Liaison Librarian from the Taubman Health Sciences Library.
