LibGuides: American Studies: Women's History & Culture

Primary Sources

The American Jewess
First English-language publication directed to American Jewish women. Coverage: 1895-1899.
Black Women Oral History Project
Interviews of 72 African American women, many with careers in fields such as education, government, the arts, business, medicine, law, and social work. Includes interview with Rosa Parks. Dates: 1976-1981. For more background on interviewees: https://guides.library.harvard.edu/schlesinger_bwohp
Feminist Press: Independent Voices
Over 75 magazines, newsletters, and newspapers created by activists and collectives that helped propel the second wave of feminism from the late sixties and early seventies through the end of the 20th century. Includes the Redstockings, New York Radical Women, Chicago Women’s Liberation Union, the Third World Women’s Alliance, and many others.

North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Find women's eyewitness accounts of historical events from 1675- 1950. Women's writings and primary sources.

PEN America Archive
Recordings and transcripts of authors, writers, and cultural and literary advocates. Includes interviews with figures such as Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, and Salman Rushdie. Select Author/Participant header to browse by author.
Primary Source Sets
Digital Public Library of America's primary source sets filtered by subject: women. Topics include arts and literature, Civil Rights, suffrage, and more.
Rosa Parks Papers
Includes writings, notes, letters, photographs, and more. Dates: 1866-2006, most 1955-2000.

The Salem Witch Hunt: A Brief History with Documents by Richard Godbeer The Salem witch trials stand as one of the infamous moments in colonial American history. More than 150 people -- primarily women -- from 24 communities were charged with witchcraft; 19 were hanged and others died in prison. In his introduction to this compact yet comprehensive volume, Richard Godbeer explores the beliefs, fears, and historical context that fueled the witch panic of 1692.
Call Number: 133.4 GOD (Humanities Course Reserves)
ISBN: 9780312484552
Publication Date: 2011-01-11

Susan B. Anthony Papers
Correspondence, diaries, scrapbooks, and more from renowned suffragist. Dates: 1846-1934, mostly 1846 to 1906.
Witchcraft
Resource hub for primary sources, biographies, and literary criticism related to witchcraft (specifically Salem Witch Trials) in the United States. "The dark chapter in early American history known as the Salem Witch Trials has inspired a great many works of fiction, poetry, and drama, and has been held up as a warning against the intrusion of religious beliefs into government, mass hysteria based on imagined dangers, and to underscore the essentiality of due process."
Women's Autobiographical Writing
Hub of background information and literary criticism related to women's autobiographies. "Women's autobiographies began to be published in greater numbers in the United States and other Western countries in the mid-nineteenth century, an era when authorship became regarded as an honorable, viable profession for women, and when numbers of readers--and the accessibility of books--grew exponentially."
Women in Science and Technology
Highlights some of the work that American women have done in science, technology, and medicine, whether their names are widely known today or not.
Women Physicians
Documents the history of women physicians beginning with the first medical school for women, Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP). Founded in 1850, WMCP trained thousands of women physicians who practiced in all parts of the world, and provided rare opportunities for women to teach, practice, perform research and manage a medical school. WMCP was also a long time refuge for women students and faculty who faced quotas and discrimination elsewhere.
Women Working, 1800-1930
An exploration of women's impact on the economic life of the United States between 1800 and the Great Depression. From Harvard University.