Beth Judy collection of Girl Vigilantes records

Beth Judy, originally from the Chicago area, was born in 1961. She moved to Atlanta to work at the Centers for Disease Control in 1983 after receiving her undergraduate degree from Harvard College. In Atlanta she also worked as a publicist for the nonprofit music presenter Quantum Productions, did freelance publication services, and started writing. In 1992 she moved to Missoula, Montana, to attend the University of Montana graduate program in Creative Writing, receiving her MFA in 1995. In Missoula she continued freelance work; began writing, voicing and producing, in 1995, a radio show for Montana Public Radio called "The Plant Detective" about medicinal plants; and worked as a book editor for Mountain Press Publishing Company. Today she mostly writes for magazines and creatively, and continues her work in radio.

The Girl Vigilantes were an anonymous group of political activists (men and women) in Atlanta, Georgia, who used images and action to draw attention to reproductive rights and other social issues. They specialized in public statements, usually visual, that combined powerful imagery, wit, and surprise.