THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT
Rev. Joan Bates Forsberg
b. January 15, 1928
“The consciousness at Yale Divinity School in ’72 is not anti-men. It is pro-women. And it’s getting stronger.”
Reproductive rights activist. Advocate for expanding women’s presence in ministry. Ordained Christian minister and one of the first female faculty members at Yale Divinity School (YDS). An advocate for women, registrar, assistant dean and director of admissions, and associate dean for students and lecturer in practical theology. Founded the YDS Women’s Center, 1971.
More About Rev. Joan Bates Forsberg:
- A Herstory of Yale Divinity School: Women at YDS, 1907–Today
- YDS Women’s Center
- Faith, Reproductive Politics and Resistance: A Conversation with the Reverend Joan Bates Forsberg, by Gillian Frank focuses on the religious roots of her economic activism and contraceptive-rights activism and her involvement as a state’s witness in Griswold v. Connecticut. January 2017
- Andiron Talk at Pilgrim Place, a conversation with Rev. Joan Bates Forsberg, September 2014
- Yale Women’s Oral History 2009 Forsberg 060909 FINAL
- Thank You, Joan: How We Found Our Voices, by Talitha Arnold ’80 M.Div.
- Joan Bates Forsberg – “Reflections on International Women’s Year,” September 7, 1975