Library Guides: Primary Sources: Women's history

Women's History

North American Women's Letters and Diaries, 1675-1950 This link opens in a new window
Includes experiences of over 1,000 women through 150,000 pages of diaries and letters. The collection also includes biographies and an extensive annotated bibliography. Entries date from the 17th - 20th century.
This resource provides full-text access to the personal writings of North American women from all classes and walks of life, from colonial times to 1950. All age groups, all life stages, many ethnicities, and many geographical regions are represented. Some writings are by prominent women, while others provide insight into the everyday lives of ordinary women. Whenever possible, the collection includes biographical information about the author of each document. Materials and collection data have been drawn from a variety of sources, including unpublished letters and diaries, journal articles, pamphlets, newsletters, monographs, and conference proceedings.
Struggle for Women's Rights, Organizational Records, 1880-1990 Collection This link opens in a new window
Includes records of three women’s rights organizations: the National Woman’s Party, the League of Women Voters, and the Women’s Action Alliance. It also searches the Citizens Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Records of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, 1895-1992, the papers of the NAACP, and more.

This collection is comprised of records of three women’s rights organizations: the National Woman’s Party, the League of Women Voters, and the Women’s Action Alliance. It also searches the Citizens Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Records of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, 1895-1992, the papers of the NAACP, and the records of other major civil rights organizations. Key topics covered include women, women's rights, women's organizations, professional correspondence, administrative and organizational records, international relations, National Woman's Party, World Woman's Party, women's suffrage movement, constitutional amendments, conference proceedings, books and reports, and reproductive health.
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 This link opens in a new window
Organized around the history of women in social movements in the U.S. between 1600 & 2000, the collection currently includes 124 document projects and archives with more than 5,100 documents and 175,000 pages of additional full-text documents, written by 2,800 primary authors.
This collection is a resource for students and scholars of U.S. history and U.S. women's history, bringing together resources documenting aspects of American women's public lives and political activities. Organized around the history of women in social movements in the U.S. between 1600 and 2000, the collection currently includes more than 145 document projects and archives with more than 9,500 books and documents, 1,500 images, and 191,000 pages of additional full-text documents, written by 2,800 primary authors. This digital collection also includes book, film, and website reviews, notes from the archives, a dictionary of social movements and organizations, a chronology of U.S. Women's History, and teaching tools. This site also has an online edition of the five-volume biographical dictionary, Notable American Women (1971-2004) and an Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the U.S. which includes biographical sketches of grassroots suffrage activists.