A Visionary Archive
How do we share the struggles and triumphs of the women who have shaped our modern lives and made the world what it is today?
First, we follow history’s rich trail of primary sources: images, notes, diaries, articles, records, and legislation.
Then, we dig deeper with videos, books, historical periodicals, newspapers, dissertations, and more.
Explore …
- Key 19th- and 20th-century materials
- Archival and manuscript primary source collections not available anywhere else
- Topics that include women in the South, women in politics, activism, struggle for women’s rights, and much more
- Representations of women across multiples perspectives found in varying collections, such as:
- Women’s magazines
- Military and diplomatic history
- Pop-culture materials
- Primary source organization records and personal papers
- Alexander Street Women's History collections
- Women’s Studies ebook collection
Working Women
Follow a time of turbulent change with records and correspondence covering issues like the treatment of women by unions in several Midwestern industrial centers, and the influx of women to industrial centers during the war.
Topics covered:
- Women’s work in war industries
- Equal pay
- Childcare and race
- The Women’s Army Corps
Key resources:
- History Vault:
- Women at Work during WW II
- Southern Life and African American History, Plantations Records
- Slavery and the Law
- The NAACP Papers
Herstory, Between the Pages of Leading Magazines
Explore women’s history, gender roles, fashion, and more with cover-to-cover digital collections, from the late 19th century and into the 21st century:
- Women’s Magazine Archive, including Better Homes & Gardens, Good Housekeeping, Ladies’ Home Journal, Parents, Redbook, and more
- The Harper’s Bazaar Archive, America’s first fashion magazine
- The Vogue Archive, a unique record of American and international popular culture
- The Women’s Wear Daily Archive, the authoritative record of the fashion industry
- Country Life Archive, a popular weekly British lifestyle magazine
Read the blog posts.
Women and the Vote
The turn of the 20th century saw female trailblazers organizing to secure employment, eligibility for jury service, equal nationality rights, and appointments to federal executive positions.
Explore primary-source accounts of women’s political activity and their fight for equal rights.. .
Key resources:
- History Vault:
- Struggle for Women’s Rights, 1880–1990: Organizational Records
- Women’s Studies Manuscript Collections from the Schlesinger Library: Voting Rights, National Politics, and Reproductive Rights
- Slavery and the Law
- The NAACP Papers
- The Gerritsen Collection of Aletta H. Jacobs
- ProQuest Congressional
- House of Commons Parliamentary Papers
- Executive Branch Documents
- Historical Statistical Abstracts of the United States
- Alexander Street Women's History collections
- Women’s Studies ebook collection
Plus, see the social and cultural impact via Women’s Magazine Archive, The Harper’s Bazaar Archive, The Vogue Archive, The Women’s Wear Daily Archive, and Country Life Archive.
Read the blog posts.
Breaking Barriers
See how women have changed attitudes and events in history, culture, and politics in the U.S. ,the U.K., and worldwide.
Learn about leaders, including Gloria Steinem, Rosa Parks, Mary McCloud Bethune, and Hillary Clinton – not to mention the editors of women’s magazines, and so many others.
Topics span slavery and divorce petitions to voting rights to leading branches of the NAACP and civil rights to liberation to holding government offices to shaping business, culture, fashion, and style.
Key resources:
- Alexander Street Women’s History collections, including Interviews: Women Activists Discuss Their History
The editors of Women and Social Movements International organized two extraordinary sessions at the 2011 Berkshire Conference in Women's History, assembling six leaders who have shaped women’s international activism through the United Nations' Conferences on Women, 1975-1995. - History Vault:
- Struggle for Women’s Rights, 1880–1990: Organizational Records
- Women’s Studies Manuscript Collections from the Schlesinger Library: Voting Rights, National Politics, and Reproductive Rights
- Slavery and the Law
- The Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century, Organizational Records and Personal Papers
- The NAACP Papers
- British Periodicals
- ProQuest Congressional
- House of Commons Parliamentary Papers
- Alexander Street Women's History collections
- Women’s Studies ebook collection
Plus, discover more via Women’s Magazine Archive, The Harper’s Bazaar Archive, The Vogue Archive, The Women’s Wear Daily Archive, and Country Life Archive.
Read the blog posts.
Women in Politics
Explore how women have influenced legislation and political history, with a focus on voting rights, women in the workforce, domestic and gender roles, and equal pay plus, learn about women’s evolving impact on business and society.
Key resources:
- ProQuest Congressional
- Legislative Insight
- Regulatory Insight
- House of Commons Parliamentary Papers
- British Periodicals
- Women’s Magazine Archive
- Alexander Street Women's History collections
- Women’s Studies ebook collection
- History Vault:
- Struggle for Women’s Rights, 1880–1990: Organizational Records
- Slavery and the Law
Read the blog posts.
Resources
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Watch the Recorded Video: Improving Research Outcomes with Content Diversity: Women’s History
Download the Women’s Studies brochure. Experience history without filters via vast collections spanning time and subject areas.
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