Digital Primary and Secondary Sources: Women's History

This 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.

The Dovie Horvitz Collection consists of over 1,300 images and scanned texts representing objects and printed matter that reflect the lives of women from the mid 1800s through the mid 1900s. Objects in the collection include clothing (dresses, hosiery, bustles, garters, swimwear, undergarments, aprons, and more), accessories such as shoes and boots, hats, gloves, purses, fans, handkerchiefs, furs, and parasols; menstrual and other health products; cosmetic and grooming kits, powders, and related make-up items; dresser sets (combs and brushes); curling irons and other hair care devices; perfumes; boudoir pillow covers; eye glasses; and exercise equipment.

Duke University's online archival collection containing primary Internet sources, manuscripts, and women's studies resources. Full text versions of diaries, letters, and newspapers offer insight into life for African American women in the South.

Duke University's online archival collection containing digitized manuscripts that illustrate the activities of three women during the Civil War. Scanned images make rare documents available in full text.

List of bibliographical topics including African American women's resources, suffrage, women and the military, women in politics, and more.

Historical editing project sponsored by the Department of History at New York University. The site includes links to a selection of Sanger's documents.

This 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.

Digital exhibit on abolitionist, preacher, and women's rights activist Sojourner Truth. Includes both primary and secondary sources.

Videos of oral histories of 48 women who entered the workforce during World War II and took up traditionally male jobs in industry. From the Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.

The Voices of Feminism Oral History Project documents the persistence and diversity of organizing for women in the United States in the latter half of the 20th century. Narrators include labor, peace, and anti-racism activists; artists and writers; lesbian rights advocates; grassroots anti-violence and anti-poverty organizers; and women of color reproductive justice leaders. Interviews average 5-6 hours and cover childhood, personal life, and political work.

Created in 2015, Women's Knowledge Digital Library (WKDL) is an online repository of information by and about women and girls. The goal of the project is to provide users with trusted information that is easily and efficiently accessible and that which can be used in the education and empowerment of women and girls worldwide. Our focus is to amplify women's voices and include resources that women can learn from and adapt to suit the work being done within their own communities.

National Archives collection of primary sources, activities, and links to related websites for educators and students with a focus on women's suffrage.

Defining Gender provides access to a vast body of original British source material that will enrich the teaching and research experience of those studying history, literature, sociology and education from a gendered perspective

Everyday Life & Women in America c.1800-1920 showcases unique primary source material for the study of American social, cultural, and popular history in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Explore domestic consumerism, life and leisure in America between 1850-1950 with Trade Catalogues and the American Home. This resource presents a wealth of highly illustrated primary source documents that highlight commercial tastes and consumer trends, and provide a valuable visual record for a breadth of interdisciplinary study.

The finding aid is the result of a five-year project by staff at The National Archives in the mid-1990s and enables researchers to quickly locate details of documents at TNA relating to women. This finding aid is far more detailed and extensive than anything available elsewhere online and has the benefit of ranging across all of the document classes TNA hold.