WGSS History Archives
- Women and Social Movements in the United States Since 1600 This link opens in a new window
Access documents relating to the history of women in social movements in the United States. This collection covers topics including black women suffragists, gender bias reports, women and antislavery, commissions on the status of women, notable American women, and more. Coverage: 1600-2000, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Human Sexuality Collection - HathiTrust Digital LibraryDiverse content on human sexuality, including historic government documents, books, and journals on topics including adolescent health, AIDS, abortion, reproductive technologies, pornography, domestic violence, abuse, and teenage pregnancy. Dickinson’s HathiTrust membership provides full-text access (with downloading) to more than 1,500 volumes in this collection. Coverage: contains primary sources. See our special access instructions.
- Struggle for Women's Rights: Organizational Records, 1880-1990 This link opens in a new window
Access papers of important organizations in the struggle for women's rights, including the National Women's Party, the League of Women Voters, and the National Organization for Women (NOW). This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via History Vault. Coverage: 1880-1990, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Women's Issues & Their Advocacy Within The White House, 1974-1977 This link opens in a new window
Access documents that relate to liaison activities with women’s organizations, agency women’s groups and program units, advisory committees on women and women appointees; public policy; and legislation and regulation of women’s civil rights in the government and the economy, during the presidency of Gerald R. Ford. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Archives Unbound. Coverage: 1974-1977, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Women's Studies Archive This link opens in a new windowAccess archival materials from across the globe on women's political activism, such as suffrage, birth control, pacifism, civil rights, and socialism, and on women's voices, from female-authored literature to women's periodicals. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: 1879 - 1998, contains primary sources. Full text.
Funded in part by the Paul Herbert Doney Memorial Fund. - Women's Studies Manuscript Collections from the Schlesinger Library: Voting Rights, National Politics, and Reproductive Rights This link opens in a new window
Access the papers of key national leaders in advocacy for women's rights at the national, regional, and local levels. Julia Ward Howe, Anna Howard Shaw, and Matilda Gage are included, as well as lesser known state and local leaders. This collection also includes oral histories on family planning and the records of Mary Ware Dennett and the Voluntary Parenthood League. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via History Vault. Coverage: 1880-1990, contains primary sources. Full text.
- National American Woman Suffrage Association CollectionContains books and pamphlets documenting the women's suffrage campaign, which were collected by members of NAWSA. Coverage: 1890-1938; contains primary sources. Full-text.
- Sophia Smith Collection: Women's History Archives at Smith CollegeMaterials from the Women's History Archives at Smith College including oral histories, photos, and video. Some items are available to Smith College community only.
- Discovering American Women's History OnlineThis database provides access to digital collections of primary sources (photos, letters, diaries, artifacts, etc.) that document the history of women in the United States. These diverse collections range from Ancestral Pueblo pottery to interviews with women engineers from the 1970s.
- Documents from the Women's Liberation MovementsContains transcriptions of selected original documents from the women's liberation movement held by Duke's Special Collections.
- Everyday Life and Women In America This link opens in a new windowAccess primary source material for the study of American social, cultural, and popular history in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This collection includes images, monographs, pamphlets, periodicals and broadsides, addressing political, social, and gender issues; religion; race; employment; marriage; home and family life; health and more. Coverage: 1800-1920, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 This link opens in a new window
Access color images of manuscripts and rare printed material, as well as photographs, ephemera, and memorabilia, that document the dramatic changes to society in Britain and American from the 1950s to the 1970s. Coverage: 1950-1975, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives, 1960-1974 This link opens in a new window
Access diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, government documents, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary from/about 1960s America. Themes include arts, music, culture; civil rights; counter-culture; law & government; technology; student activism; the Vietnam War, and more. Coverage: 1960-1974, contains primary sources. Full text.
- History Commons This link opens in a new window
“Complete Collection of Historical American Newspapers, Books, and Journals Module" - Access historical American newspapers, journals and books, including collections covering African-American newspapers, the Civil War, Native Americans in history, Women's Suffrage, World War I, Pennsylvania, and Quarantine and Disease Control in America. Coverage: mid 17th century through early 20th century - varies by collection, contains primary sources. Full text.
- American Prison Newspapers, 1800s-Present: Voices from the Inside This link opens in a new window
Access a growing digital archive of newspapers published in prisons by incarcerated individuals. When complete, this collection will bring together periodicals from across the country, representing penal institutions of all kinds, with special attention paid to women's-only institutions. Coverage: 1883-Present, contains primary sources. Full text.
Letters, Diaries, and Personal Papers
- Manuscript Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new windowAccess the personal writings of women in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, extensively indexed by name, date, place, personal event, etc. Coverage: 1750-1950, contains primary sources. Full text. This purchase was made possible through a bequest of Eleanor Cogan (Honorary Doctor of Liberal Arts, 2003), library volunteer and longtime friend of the college.
- North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new windowAccess American and Canadian women's diaries and correspondence, extensively indexed by name, date, place, historical or personal event, etc. This collection includes biographical information on the authors. Coverage: colonial era to 1950, contains primary sources. Full text. This purchase was funded in part by the Mary Moser Memorial Library Fund.
- Blackwell Family PapersFive generations of family diaries, correspondence, sermons, lectures, orations and political speeches document the Blackwell family and their involvement in United States women's suffrage, abolition, prohibition, health care, and education reform movements in the 19th and 20th centuries. Blackwell family members include (among others) Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910), the first woman to obtain a medical degree in the United States; her sister Emily (1826-1910), also an early woman doctor and instrumental in promoting medical education for women; and Antoinette Brown Blackwell (1825-1921), the first woman ordained as a minister in the United States and an active social reform lecturer.
- Women's History - Library of Congress Digital CollectionsCollections include Clara Baron Papers; Carrie Chapman Catt Papers; Betty Herndon Maury Maury Papers; Anna E. Dickinson Papers; Elizabeth Cady Stanton Papers; Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection; Mary Church Terrell Papers, National American Woman Suffrage Association Collection & Records; Susan B. Anthony Papers, Women's Suffrage in Sheet Music; and Women of Protest: Photographs of the National Woman's Party. Coverage: 1815-1961, varies by collection; contains primary sources. Full-Text.
- Fannie Lou Hamer: Papers of a Civil Rights Activist, Political Activist & Woman This link opens in a new window
Access correspondence, financial records, programs, photographs, news articles, and invitations related to the personal life and organizations of Fannie Lou Hamer, voting rights activist and civil rights leader. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Archives Unbound. Coverage: 1966-1978, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Rosa Parks PapersPapers related to the life of Rosa Parks including correspondence with her family, writings and notes around Parks' arrest in 1955 and the subsequent Montgomery Bus Boycott, books that Parks owned, and photographs. Coverage: 1913-2005; contains primary sources. Full-Text.
Labor/Employment
- Quest for Labor Equality in Household Work: National Domestic Workers Union, 1965-1979 This link opens in a new window
Access records, including correspondence, meeting minutes, and project files of the United Domestic Workers Union in the United States. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Archives Unbound. Coverage: 1965-1979, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Women Working: 1870-1930An exploration of women's impact on the economic life of the United States. Working conditions, workplace regulations, home life, costs of living, commerce, recreation, health and hygiene, and social issues are among the issues documented. Coverage: 1800 - the Great Depression. Mostly Full-Text.
- Iowa Women's Archives Digital CollectionsIncludes photographs, diaries, scrapbooks, correspondence, oral history interviews, and other artifacts from the Iowa Women's Archives. Documents the lives of women politicians, activists, writers, homemakers, students, and others. Coverage: 1860-2010, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Women and Transnational Networks This link opens in a new window
Access primary documents such as journals, books, and manuscripts, on topics including social reform movements and groups, high and popular culture, literature and the arts, immigration, daily life, and religion, among other gender and women's studies topics. This collection focuses mostly on European and North American movements, but also includes some resources from other regions. It is part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO). Coverage: 1790s-1910s, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Archives of Sexuality and Gender This link opens in a new window
Access meeting minutes, administrative records, publications, private correspondence, photographs, internal United States government memoranda, international archival documents, and more to illuminate the experiences of LGBTQ individuals. Materials come from major international activist organizations as well as local, grassroots groups. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: contains primary sources, 1530s-Present, but varies by collection. A portion of this purchase was a gift of the Mary Moser Memorial Library Fund.
- Children's Literature and Childhood This link opens in a new windowAccess primary sources related to the experience of childhood in the nineteenth century, including books & periodicals for children, material related to education, pamphlets produced by child welfare groups, documents & photos related to children and crime, newspapers produced by youths, and more. This collection is part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO). Coverage: 19th century, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Defining Gender This link opens in a new windowAccess primary sources covering topics such as conduct and politeness, domesticity and the family, consumption and leisure, education and sensibility, and the body. This collection includes ephemera, pamphlets, diaries, exam papers, ledgers, periodicals, conduct literature and more. Coverage: 1400s to the early 1900s, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Feminism in Cuba: Nineteenth through Twentieth Century Archival Documents This link opens in a new window
Access primary sources including personal letters, journal essays, radio broadcasts, memoirs and more, on Cuban feminism, women in politics, literature by Cuban women, and the legal status of Cuban women, from the period of Cuban independence to the end of the Batista regime. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Archives Unbound. Coverage: 1898-1958, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Gender: Identity and Social Change This link opens in a new windowAccess primary sources documenting the changing representations and lived experiences of gender roles and relations, including sources for the study of gender history, women's suffrage and the feminist movement, the men's movement and more. Coverage: 19th century to the present, contains primary sources. Full text.
- International Women's Movement: The Pan Pacific/Southeast Asia Women's Association, 1950-1985 This link opens in a new window
Access the Pan Pacific and Southeast Asia Women's Association's correspondence, minutes, financial materials, scrapbooks, and more, to learn how the organization worked to strengthen international understanding and friendship among the women of Asia and the Pacific and women of the United States. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Archives Unbound. Coverage: 1938-2006, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 This link opens in a new window
Access color images of manuscripts and rare printed material, as well as photographs, ephemera, and memorabilia, that document the dramatic changes to society in Britain and American from the 1950s to the 1970s. Coverage: 1950-1975, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Women in The National Archives This link opens in a new windowAccess original documents on suffrage in Britain, the Empire and colonial territories in the 20th century. This collection also includes a finding aid to women's studies resources, on topics such as education, employment and health, among others, in the United Kingdom's National Archives. Coverage: 1903-1962, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Women Organizing Transnationally: The Committee of Correspondence, 1952-1969 This link opens in a new window
Access official correspondence, as well as letters to and from correspondents throughout the world, documenting the work of the Committee of Correspondence, an international Western women's organization. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Archives Unbound. Coverage: 1952-1969, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Women, War & Society: 1914-1918 This link opens in a new window
Access primary source documents relating to the contributions of women to World War I in Europe. This collection includes charity and international relief reports, pamphlets, photographs, press cuttings, magazines, posters, correspondence, minutes, records, diaries, memoranda, statistics, circulars, regulations and invitations, along with interpretative essays from leading scholars. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Archives Unbound. Coverage: 1914-1918, contains primary sources. Full text.
Women Writers
- Perdita Manuscripts This link opens in a new windowAccess the manuscripts of "lost" early modern women writers that have been rediscovered thanks to the work of the Perdita Project based at the University of Warwick and Nottingham Trent University. Coverage: 1500s-1700s, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Victorian Women Writers Project This link opens in a new windowAccess transcriptions of 19th century works by lesser-known British women writers and other women writing in English. This collection includes poetry, novels, children's books, political pamphlets, religious tracts, histories and more. Coverage: 19th century, contains primary sources. Full text.
Media Resources - Popular Magazines, Advertisements, Photos, Videos and Websites
Popular Magazines & Periodicals
- Women's Periodicals: Social and Political Issues This link opens in a new window
Access historical women’s periodicals for insight into the lives of women, the role of women in society and the development of the public lives of women as the push for women’s rights—suffrage, fair pay, better working conditions, etc. —grew in the United States and England. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Archives Unbound. Coverage: 1786-1933, contains primary sources. Full text. This purchase was a gift of the Walter E. Beach Library Fund.
- Women's Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Access historic content for women’s magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Essence, Seventeen, Town & Country, WIN News, and Woman's Day. Coverage: 1846-2005 (varies by publication), contains primary sources. Full text.
- Independent Voices This link opens in a new windowAccess magazines, journals, and newspapers of alternative press archives. Collections include Black American, Campus Underground, Feminist, GI Press, LGBT, Latino, Little (literary) Magazine, Native American and Right-Wing publications. Coverage: second half of 20th century, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Reader's Guide Retrospective This link opens in a new window
Search for articles in the popular press (magazines, news magazines, general interest periodicals), on topics including art, business, computers, dance, drama, education, entertainment, fashion, film & television, food, health & medicine, history, literature, news & current events, photography, popular & classical music, politics, popular culture, religion, science, sports & fitness, transportation, and travel. Coverage: 1890-1982. Some full text.
- American Periodicals Series This link opens in a new window
Access over 1,500 periodicals that first began publishing between 1740 and 1900, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines; 89 journals published between 1740 and 1800 offer insights into America's transition from colonial times to independence; and 118 periodicals published during the Civil War (1861-1865) and Reconstruction (1865-1877) eras; and many other historically-significant periodicals. Coverage: 1740-1900, contains primary sources. Full text.
- EBSCO Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Access the magazine archives of Architectural Digest, The Atlantic, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Ebony, Esquire, Forbes, Fortune, Jet, Life, Maclean's, People, Sports Illustrated, Time, U.S. News & World Report and Vanity Fair. Coverage: 1857-2015 (varies by title), contains primary sources. Full text. The Ebony archive and Jet archive are, in part, gifts of the Mary Moser Memorial Library Fund.
- Liberty Magazine This link opens in a new window
Access issues of Liberty: a Weekly for Everybody, founded in 1924 in the United States, with full-page images of every page of every issue. This magazine is browsable by date, author, or artist. It is cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: 1924-1950, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Modernist Journals ProjectAn online collection of English language magazines published between 1890 and 1922.
- Zine Web Archive (Library of Congress)An archive of online zines, which are generally self-published, self-created, self-distributed, and non-commercial. Collection priorities include zines by people of color, women, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ individuals and organizations. Contains primary sources. Coverage: November 2018 - present. Full text.
Advertisements
- J. Walter Thompson: Advertising America This link opens in a new window
Access documents relating to the history, operation, policies and accomplishments of one of the world's largest and oldest advertising firms. This collection includes account files, staff newsletters, speeches, research, staff meeting minutes, and a selection of print advertisements. It covers a range of brands, companies and industries, from automobiles to cosmetics and cruises. Coverage: 1887-2014, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Trade Catalogues and the American Home This link opens in a new windowAccess primary source documents that highlight commercial tastes and consumer trends in America. Coverage: 1850-1950, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Ad*Access from Duke UniversityOver 7,000 U.S. and Canadian advertisements covering five product categories - Beauty and Hygiene, Radio, Television, Transportation, and World War II propaganda. Coverage: 1911-1955; contains primary sources. Full-Text.
- AdViews: A Vintage Archive of Digital Television CommercialsThousands of historic television commercials in product categories including food and beverage; health and beauty; consumer goods and services; transporation; business; and entertainment. Coverage: 1950s - 1980s; contains primary sources. Full-Text.
Photos
- Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman's PartyMore than 400 digitized photographs from the Records of the National Woman's Party. Images depict the tactics used by the militant wing of the suffrage movement in the United States—including picketing, petitioning, pageants, parades and demonstrations, hunger strikes and imprisonment---as well as individual portraits of organization leaders and members. The photographs document the National Woman's Party's push for ratification of the 19th Amendment as well as its later efforts for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. Coverage: 1875-1938; contains primary sources. Full-Text.
- Community MuralsA digital archive of community murals in the United States, fromt he collection of Timothy Drescher. An ArtStor Digital Library collection. Coverage: 1914-1999, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Street Art GraphicsA digital archive of stickers and other street-based ephemera provided by St. Lawrence University. An ArtStor public collection. Coverage: 1912-2018. Full Text.
Videos
- LGBT Studies in Video This link opens in a new windowView streaming films of documentaries, interviews, archival footage and select feature films exploring LGBT history, gay culture, civil rights, and other issues. This collection is part of AVON: Academic Video Online, but may be searched separately. It may be used for on-campus showings by student groups and co-curricular programs for which no admission is charged. Coverage: 1970-2019, contains primary sources. Full text.
- American History in Video This link opens in a new window
View streaming films, including online newsreels, archival films, and documentaries covering United States history. This access may be used for on-campus showings by student groups and co-curricular programs for which no admission is charged. Coverage: 1894-2015, contains primary sources. Full text.
- 60 Minutes This link opens in a new windowProvides access to the 60 Minutes television program (CBS News) from 1997-2014. Relevant subjects covered include women's health issues, civil rights, domestic violence, sexuality, the sex industry, and identity. May be used for on-campus showings by student groups and co-curricular programs for which no admission is charged. Coverage: 1997 - 2014; contains primary sources. Full Text.
Websites
- Women's & Gender Studies Web Archive (Library of Congress)An archive of web sites on topics of importance to Women's and Gender Studies. Includes first-hand accounts and records of social, cultural, and political movements for gender equality. Provides enduring access to resources that illuminate underrepresented perspectives and identities. Contains primary sources. Coverage: July 2018-present. Full text.
- Internet Archive This link opens in a new windowAccess website content that provides insight into important world events and organizations. This collection includes web pages, books, audio recordings, videos, images, and software programs. Coverage: historical to present, contains primary sources. Full text.
Your Librarian
Women at Dickinson
- Womens' Experiences at Dickinson College This link opens in a new window
Explore stories about all aspects of female students' experiences at Dickinson. This blog includes digital images of original documents and select sound clips from oral history interviews with alumnae. Visit the Dickinson Archives for access to original materials. Coverage: 1870-2010, contains primary sources. Citations only.
- Dickinson Women's OrganizationsA collection of newsletters, guidebooks, and other documents from Dickinson women's organizations. Full text.
LGBT History in Dickinson Archives & Special Collections
- LGBT History Project of Central PA This link opens in a new windowExplore primary sources documenting LGBTQ+ lives and activism in Central Pennsylvania from the 20th century to the present. This resource includes oral history interviews, organization newsletters, event programs, activist group meeting notes, and photographs. This resource is hosted by the Dickinson College Archives and Special Collections and is a work in progress; new material is added on a regular basis. Coverage: contains primary sources. Full text.
Primary Source Timeline
See our Primary Source Timeline to browse a selection of primary source databases organized by coverage dates and locations.