About Rural Feminisms

In 2013, a member of the North Country Women, Valerie Summer, donated materials from the Women Together newsletters (Women Together Newsletter – CONTENTdm Title). Student Emma Berry (SLU ’14), working with History Professor Dr. Judith DeGroat, Director of Research & Digital Scholarship Eric Williams-Bergen, and Mark McMurray from Special Collections – all at St. Lawrence University, organized the donated material within the St. Lawrence University Special Collections (https://library.stlawu.edu/sites/default/files/2020-12/MSS180.pdf) where later professors such as DeGroat and others drew on these materials for student courses pertaining to local history and activism.  

Cover of the Women Together newsletter titled Community. Published as the June/July 1977 issue from Vol. 2 Issue 2.
Photo Montage of Women Together newsletter covers. Source: Women Together, MSS. 180, Series 3, Folder 27, St. Lawrence University Special Collections.

In 2017, student Alex Whalen (SLU ’20) began a student fellowship where she interviewed members of the North Country Women, including Valerie Summer, using the fellowship as a basis for her honors thesis. In 2021, DeGroat, Williams-Bergen, and Camilla Ammirati from TAUNY (Traditional Arts in Upstate New York) received a grant from CIC to further research about the project, soon labeled Rural Feminisms, which involved further interviews, research, and a culminated exhibit in the spring held at TAUNY (https://ruralfeminismsproject.slucreate.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/CIC-Grant-Project-Poster-Rural-Feminisms-in-the-North-Country-3.pdf).

In 2022, student Colleen McKernan (SLU ’23) continued work on the project through a fellowship with the intention to continue research and create a website to more publicly share information about the Rural Feminisms project. The goal of this website is recognize and honor the women involved, such as the North Country Women, women who took part in creating Women Together, and women who thought of and enacted feminism, activism, and other feminist activity.


Our Goal

The goal of this website is recognize and honor the women involved, such as the North Country Women, women who took part in creating Women Together, and women who thought of and enacted feminism, activism, and other feminist activity throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Women Together Newsletter titled Men and Women Growing Up Together Vol. 7 Issue 1 from Fall of 1981.
Cover of Fall 1981 issue of Women Together newsletter titled Men and Women Growing Up Together. Source: Women Together, MSS. 180, Series 3, Folder 27, St. Lawrence University Special Collections.

Early Meeting about the Rural Feminisms Project in August of 2022. From left to right: Camilla Ammirati, Judith DeGroat, Sarah Hentschke, Isabella Wellman-Webster, and Colleen McKernan. Photo courtesy of Camilla Ammirati from TAUNY.
Meeting about the Rural Feminisms Project in August of 2022 at TAUNY. From left to right: Camilla Ammirati, Judith DeGroat, Sarah Hentschke, Isabella Wellman-Webster, and Colleen McKernan. Photo courtesy of Judith DeGroat.

CIC Grant

The Rural Feminisms Project has been supported by St. Lawrence University, the University’s library and staff, TAUNY, and the CIC. Thanks to the CIC, the Rural Feminisms project was able to partner with TAUNY and St. Lawrence to creating a more public platform to share about the women involved in Rural Feminisms.


Additional Resources

The original copies of the Women Together magazine as well as other original materials are available for viewing in the Special Collections at St. Lawrence University, Canton, N.Y.

Additional resources also include related collections and materials available below.

Image of the Rural Feminisms Project Research Assistants and Mentor in the Special Collections at St. Lawrence University
Image of the Rural Feminisms Project Research Assistants and Mentor in the Special Collections at St. Lawrence University. From left to right: Isabella Wellman-Webster, Jackie Boutilier, Judith DeGroat, and Colleen McKernan. Photo Credit: Eric Williams-Bergen.