Background Resources
Encyclopedias and dictionaries provide background information and can be used to identify key people, events and dates. Many also include short bibliographies.
- Britannica Online
- Online version of the Encyclopedia Britannica. UW Only.
- Dictionary of American History
- Reference, Undergraduate
E174 .D5 1976
- Encyclopedia of American Social History
- Reference, Undergraduate
HN57 .E58 1993
- Encylopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century
- Reference
E740.7 .E53 1996
- The reader's companion to U.S. women's history
- Reference, Undergraduate
HQ1410 .R43 1998
- The encyclopedia of women's history in America
- Reference, Undergraduate
HQ1410 .C85 1996
- Handbook of American women's history
- Reference, Undergraduate
HQ1410 .H36 1990
Secondary Sources: Books
Use the following databases to locate books in the UW Libraries and in other libraries around the region, nation and world. Books unavailable at the UW can be requested through the Interlibrary Borrowing Service.
- UW Libraries Catalog
- A listing of the books, journal subscriptions and other material available at the University of Washington Libraries.
- OhioLINK
- Use OhioLink to access chapters of recent books, use the "Words" search option.
- OCLC WorldCat
- A listing of books, journal subscriptions and other material available in hundreds of major libraries in the U.S. and abroad. UW only.
- Dissertation Abstracts
- Index to dissertations since 1861, those from 1980 onward include an abstract. 60,000 dissertations available in electronic format (for a fee). UW Only.
Secondary Sources: Articles
Use indexes/abstracts/bibliographies to find articles (and sometimes books, dissertations, etc.) on a topic. Most indexes are arranged by subject or include a subject index. Indexes/abstracts are ongoing publications; bibliographies tend to be one volume and are more narrowly focused on a specific topic. Some are available electronically through the web or campus network, others are available on computers in the library while some are in print. There are indexes/bibliographies covering all sorts of subjects, use those which best fit your research topic. See finding additional bibliographies for instructions on using the UW Libraries Catalog to identify other bibliographies.Once you identify articles you need make sure you have the complete citation (author, title, journal name, volume, pages and year), then look in the UW Libraries Catalog for the journal name (do a title search for the journal name to see if the UW subscribes) to see if and where the journal is kept (library location and call number).
Articles from journals which the UW does not own can be requested through the Interlibrary Borrowing Service.
- America History & Life
- Major index to articles in U.S. and Canadian history. Also includes selected coverage of dissertations and books. Coverage dates from 1970.
- Arts & humanities citation index
- Index to articles in all fields of humanities. Part of the Web of Science, from the search screen, choose Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Earlier years available on CD-ROM network and in print. UW Only.
- Contemporary Women's Issues
- Full-text articles dealing with women's issues. Primarily a current focus but does provide full-text of the Journal of Women's History.
- Expanded Academic Index
- Index to approximately 1500 journals and magazines in all disciplines. Includes some full-text articles. UW Only.
- Research Library
- Index to articles in all fields, full-text articles available for selected journals and magazines. From the menu, choose Research Library Complete. UW Only.
- ViVa Women's History
- "ViVa is a current bibliography (1995-1998) of articles about women's and gender history." Compiled by the International Institute of Social History.
Women in modern American politics: a bibliography, 1900-1995 Reference Z7963.P64 C69 1997 American women and the labor movement, 1825-1974: an annotated bibliography Reference, Undergraduate Z7963.E7 S635 1976 The women's movement: reference and resources Reference Z7963.S9 R93 1996 Women and sexuality in America: a bibliography Reference Z7964.U49 S26 1984 Women are history: a bibliography in the history of American women Reference Z7964.U49 L47 1986 Victorian American women, 1840-1880: an annotated bibliography Reference Z7964.U49 M43 1992
Primary Sources:Books
Use the following tactics to find primary sources in the UW Libraries Catalog:
- Limit your search by year of publication - search for only those books published between 1880 and 1920.
- Search for books written by key participants.
- Use the subject headings "sources," "correspondence," "personal narratives," and "diaries" in conjunction with your search.
- Browse the shelves in the appropriate subject area.
- Browse magazines from the time.
- Limit your search to the contents of the History of Women microfilm set.
Primary Sources: Articles
| American Periodical Series Index | Index to American magazines published between 1700 and 1899. | |
| New York Times Index, 1851- | Reference | Shelf 16 |
| Poole's Index to periodical literature, 1805-1906 | Reference | Table 10 |
| Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, 1890- | Reference, Undergraduate | Table 10 * ** |
Primary Sources: Selected Journals The UW Libraries has a good collection of 19th and 20th century journals and magazines. Some are available in bound volumes in Suzzallo Periodicals (3rd Floor); others are part of microfilm sets such as the Gerritsen Collection (primarily British publications), History of Women and the American Periodicals Series. [The American Periodicals Series contains hundreds of magazines, most published during the 19th century. Many of these periodicals, while not specifically aimed at a female readership, carried columns and sections devoted to women. This set is in the process of being indexed so that research may be done on a topic across the journals. See the web site: http://www.comp-index.com/]. The following is a selective list of journals.
| Arthur's Home Magazine | 1852 -1898 Micro. 6680 reels 533-547 |
| Masses | 1911 - 1917 Per. HX1 .M21 |
| The Birth control review | 1917 - 1940 Micro. A9677 reel 15-16 |
| Cosmopolitan | 1886 - 1912 Per. 051 COS 1886 - 1907 Micro. 6680 reel 660-669 |
| Good Housekeeping | 1885 - 1909 Micro. A4979 1910 - Per. 051 GH |
| Harper's Bazaar | 1868 - 1912 Micro. A4985 1919 - 1983 Per. 051HB |
| Harper's Magazine | 1850 - Per. 051H |
| Ladies Home Journal | 1889 - 1907 Micro. A6680 1920 - 1959 Micro. A9652 |
| Munsey's Magazine | 1891 - 1922 Per. 051 MU |
| The Philanthropist | 1886 - 1909 Micro. A9677 reel 172 |
| Saturday Evening Post | 1898 - 1935 Micro. A4981 1921 - Per. 051 SEV |
| The Survey | 1909 - 1937 Per. 360.5 SU |
| Vogue | 1892 - 1910 Micro. A4978 1905 - Per. 051 VO |
| The Woman citizen | 1917 - 1927 Micro. A9677 reel 200-204 |
| American Women's Diaries Location: A8137 |
Microfilm collections of women's diaries, three segments: New England, Southern and Western women. Diaries are individually listed in the UW Libraries Catalog. |
| Gerritsen collection of women's history
Location: number varies Guide (to the entire collection): Suzzallo Reference and Odegaard Z7961 .G468 1983 |
Periodicals portion only. Noted for its coverage of foreign material, it includes titles in 17 languages. Periodicals are individually listed in the UW Libraries Catalog. Examples: India's Women (1881-1895), The Englishwoman's review of social and industrial questions (1866-1910), The Cook (1885-1886). |
| History of women
Location: A8266 and A9677 Guide: Suzzallo Reference Z7965 .H57 1983b |
Based largely on the holdings of the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, at Radcliffe College, and the Sophia Smith Collection, at Smith College, this source reproduces books, periodicals, pamphlets, manuscripts, and photographs. Less international than Gerritsen, but an excellent source for research in American women's history. Items are individually listed in the UW Libraries Catalog. |
| Papers of the League of Women Voters, 1918-1974
Location: A9667 |
The archives of the organization which stimulated and legitimated women's political activism throughout the postsuffrage period. Included are minutes and related documents of the Board of Directors and executive committees, (1918-1974); transcripts and records of national conventions and general councils, (1919-1974); and national office subject files, (1920-1932). 98 reels. |
| National Association of Colored Women's Clubs. Records, 1895-1992.
Location: A9701 |
Includes minutes of national conventions, publications, and president's office correspondence and President's office files. 41 reels. |
| National American Woman Suffrage Association Records 1850-1960
Location: A8635 |
Correspondence, subject files, etc. relating chiefly to state and local suffrage organizations and leaders in the movement, scrapbooks prepared by Ida Porter Boyer documenting activities in the women's rights movement (1893-1912), and miscellaneous printed matter from the Library of Congress collection. 73 reels. |
| Margaret Sanger Papers: documents from the Sophia Smith Collection and college archives, Smith College
Location: A9492 |
The diaries, correspondence, lectures and speeches of the birth control advocate. 101 reels. |
| Papers of Margaret Sanger
Location: A9572 |
Papers from the Library of Congress Collection, consists of the diaries and correspondence of Margaret Sanger in addition to her lectures and speeches. 145 reels. |
| Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
Location: A9572 Guide: Suzzallo Reference and OUGL Z6616.S689 P37 1992 |
Correspondence, speeches, articles, drafts of books, and scrapbooks compiled from many sources related to these two leaders of the woman suffrage movement. 45 reels. |
| Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, U.S. Section, 1919-1959
Location: A8464 Guide: Suzzallo Reference and Tacoma Z6464.Z9 R42 1988 |
WILPF was established in 1919 and replaced the Woman's Peace Party (WPP) in the United States. The records collected here are arranged in three series - Historical Records, Correspondence, and Serial Publications - which document the WILPF's lobbying techniques, demonstrations, letter campaigns, speeches, and grass-roots organizing. 97 reels. |
| Women's studies manuscript collections from the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College. Series 1: Woman's Suffrage Location: A8637 | pt. A. National leaders (18 reels) -- pt. B. New York (15 reels) -- pt. C. The South (8 reels) -- pt. D. New England (65 reels) -- pt. E. The Midwest and Far West (35 reels) |
Web Sites
- American Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870-1920
http://memory.loc.gov:8081/ammem/vshtml/vshome.html- American Memory collection of photographs, playbills, recordings, motion pictures and scripts from the the Library of Congress.
- Marriage, Women and the Law, 1815-1914
http://www.rlg.org/scarlet/index.html- Collection of primary and secondary materials dealing with the legal status of women in the United States and Britain. To connect, go towards the bottom of the page. Access may be limited in the future, slow to load full images of the documents.
- Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1830-1930
http://womhist.binghamton.edu/- Collection of primary documents established at SUNY Binghamton. Includes selections on suffrage, labor and African American women.
- Votes for Women: Selections from the National American Woman Suffrage Association, 1848-1921
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/naw/nawshome.html- Selection of of material from the association, part of the Library of Congress American Memory Project. See also the accompanying images
5 April 1999
Theresa Mudrock
- mudrock@u.washington.edu
Glenda Pearson -
pearson@u.washington.edu