The River City Housing Collective was established in 1977 as a means to provide low-cost cooperative living arrangements for University of Iowa students. Although founded as an independent, non-profit organization, the Collective at its onset was closely associated with the University, receiving the support of the UI Student Senate and renting two University-owned houses.

The Collective by the late 1980's grew to five houses, three of which were purchased by the organization. As of 2010, there are three houses comprising the Collective. Members are responsible for house cleaning, yard work, cooking, washing, bookkeeping, and grocery shopping, as well as much of the buildings' maintenance and repairs. In most arrangements members work 16 hours per month and attend house meetings.

An overall administration includes representatives from each house, as well as separate administrations for individual houses. These groups are responsible for guidelines and rules of the co-op. One of the houses documented in this collection, Bloom County House (935 East College Street), is named for the nationally-syndicated comic strip of the same name, which appeared in newspapers from 1980 until 1989. Its cartoonist, Berke Breathed, lived there during the early 1980s. The Collective purchased the building in 2003.

The Collective has continued a long tradition of organized and ad-hoc cooperative housing in Iowa City. Additional resources documenting earlier co-op activity at the University of Iowa are noted under Related Materials.