Norma Meras Swenson

Norma Lucille Meras Swenson (née Meras; February 2, 1932 – May 11, 2025) was an American activist, a medical sociologist, and a leader in the developing woman's health movement in the United States. She co-founded the Boston Women's Health Book Collective (BWHBC), and co-authored with the Collective, Our Bodies, Ourselves (OBOS), and served as president of the OBOS nonprofit organization for several years. Swenson was OBOS's first Director of International Programs, which supported the translation and/or adaptation and dissemination of the book into more than 30 languages. Through her life, she continued to provide support to women's groups and maternal health clinics by assisting women-led organizations that work for social change in maternity care, in reproductive justice, and in healthcare-related human rights. OBOS has impacted women's health in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, the United States and Canada. Swenson consulted national governments, private foundations and organizations, including the World Health Organization.

Swenson's papers are a part of the Records of the Boston Women's Health Book Collective collection at the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University.