"Primary sources are the raw materials of history — original documents and objects which were created at the time under study. They are different from secondary sources, accounts or interpretations of events created by someone without firsthand experience." ~Library of Congress
Books, periodicals, and pamphlets on women's history and the evolution of feminism. Covers four centuries and 15 languages, with publications from the U.S., U.K., Canada, New Zealand, and continental Europe.
Two collections in this database:
The Periodical Series: This segment represents about 25 percent of the material in the database. It comprises 265 titles, including The Suffragist (1913-21) and The Women's Protest Against Woman Suffrage (1912-18).
Monograph Language Series: These 4,471 monographs and pamphlets make up about 75 percent of the collection. Included are 2,336 titles tracing suffragism in the English-speaking world. The collection will soon include 929 German titles that document the history of organized movements in Germany and Switzerland, and 734 French titles that cover women's issues from Gallic times through World War II.
Includes 19th Century primary sources collections covering Europe and Africa, Mapping the World, Photography, and Women.
Europe and Africa: Commerce, Christianity, Civilization, and Conquest
Monographs, manuscripts, and newspapers covering key issues of economics, world politics, and international strategy.
Mapping the World: Maps and Travel Literature
Selections from map repositories of the British Library and the National Archives at Kew representing the nineteenth century.
Photography: The World Through the Lens
Collections of photographs, photograph albums, photographically-illustrated books and texts on the early history of photography from libraries and archives from across the globe. Some images are well-known while many have rarely been viewed.
Women: Transnational Networks
Focuses on issues at the intersection of gender and class from the late 18th century to the era of suffrage in the early 20th century, through a transnational perspective. The collection contains sources on European and North American movements and collections from other regions.
Explores protest movements, revolutions, and civil wars that have transformed societies and human experience from the 18th century through the present.
Revolutions, protests, resistance and social movements from the 18th century through the 21st century, documented through personal papers, organizations, government documents, journals, reports, monographs, images, video, and speeches.
Conference proceedings, organization reports, publications, and websites of women's non-governmental organizations. Also includes letters, diaries, and memoirs of women active internationally since the mid-nineteenth century, as well as photographs and videos of major events and activists in the history of women’s international social movements.
Full-text content from U.S. & international newspapers from the 19th century to the late 20th century. In addition to news stories, includes editorials, cartoons, classifieds, and obituaries.