This document describes the numerous collections of primary
research materials in the field of women's history that are available
in microtext format at MTSU Library. Most of the information in this
document has been
taken directly from Subject Guide to Microtext Collections in Todd
Library, which was printed in August, 1992; collections that
have been subsequently acquired are also described. Reviews of specific
collections that have appeared in Microform Review or Journal
of American History are cited. In addition, links to detailed online
guides to collections are provided, when available.
Archives of the British Labour Party, The Women's Labour
League, 1906-1918 MFE 4347
Miscellaneous correspondence, minutes, account books, list of
subscribers, committee minutes, etc. of the League. Also, see the
description of Women's Labour League-Labour Party Women's
Organization.
Archives of the National Council of Women's
Papers MFE 4338
The National Council of Women is an organization comprised of
women's voluntary organizations with a common interest in the
social, educational, and
political rights of women, and with the primary purpose of acting
as a clearing-house or information bureau. It was unusual for its
time in that its
membership was open to all races and religions. The records in
this collection include letters to and from NCW executive committee
members and
standing committee chairmen; programs, agendas, minutes, and
transcripts of meetings and conferences; activity files; general
historical files; subject files;
and photographs.
Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of
Lynching Papers, 1930-1942
MFM 1147
Includes correspondence, reports, pamphlets, legislative materials,
and meeting minutes that trace the determined fight of the ASWPL to
end the lynchings
of African-Americans in the rural South.
Campaign for Women's Suffrage, 1895-1920: Papers of the
International Woman Suffrage Alliance MFM 1292
Newspaper clippings chronicle the campaign for suffrage in England
around the turn of the century. An additional perspective is gained
through the inclusion of the correspondence of the National Union
of Woman's Suffrage Alliance and of the International Woman
Suffrage Alliance, minute books of the Parliamentary Committee for
Woman's Suffrage, and the archives of the Manchester Men's League
for Women's Suffrage.
Cornell University Collection of Women's Rights
Pamphlets,
1814-1912 MFE 4344
This collection of 117 pamphlets provides a definitive reflection
of the women's rights movement from its infancy to the advent of
the Women's Suffrage
Amendment. Pamphlets cover such subjects as the industrial and
political independence of women, women and war, education of women,
property laws
and women, methods for achieving rights, and the wage-earning
woman. The collection also contains the proceedings of the
National Women's Rights
Convention of 1850 as well as proceedings and speeches from other
conferences during this century.
Gerritsen Collection of Women's History, 1543-1945;
Periodicals Series MFE 4340 and MFM 1145
Possibly the greatest single source for the study of international
women's history and the feminist movement. Walker Library has the
Periodical Series
from this collection. For the years 1860-1900, which is the period
covered by most of the 265 titles, there is no comparable source of
periodical
literature on women. Collection covers a wide range of topics
(women's rights, historical and legal status of women,
prostitution, education of girls
and women, biography and autobiography, marriage and the family,
employment of women).
History of Nursing MFE 4437
Primarily a monograph collection consisting of works on all aspects
of nursing. In addition, the collection includes material on
nursing education, the growth of professionalism within nursing,
professional nursing organizations, public health, medicine, and
midwifery. Part I contains The Adelaide Nutting Historical
Nursing Collection and Parts II and III contain The
Archives of the Department of Nursing Education, Teachers College,
Columbia University.
The Jane Addams Papers, 1860-1960 MFM 1146
Jane Addams (1860-1935) achieved international fame through her
social work, reform strategies, and activities in support of world
peace. This collection
of more than 120,000 pages of documents represent a primary
research source on her work. It includes her correspondence;
personal documents;
manuscripts and published versions of her articles and speeches;
Hull House Association Records; and newspaper and periodical
clippings about Addams
and her career.
Mary McLeod Bethune Papers, 1923-1942 MFM
322
Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955), the daughter of former slaves, was
a noted educator and humanitarian. In 1904 she opened the Daytona
(Florida) Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls, which
later merged with a men's school to form Bethune-Cookman College.
She held several important posts as a lifelong leader in efforts
toward bettering the status of women and African-Americans.
National Woman's Party Papers, 1913-1974 MFM
1207
The role of the National Woman's Party (NWP), founded in 1913 by
Alice Paul, as a women's rights group, cannot be overestimated.
The NWP relentlessly
pursued the goal of passage of a Suffrage Amendment, and following
the ratification of that amendment, it reorganized in 1921 and
began its long
campaign for an Equal Rights Amendment. For more than 50 years
Alice Paul and the NWP worked towards raising the legal, social,
and economic status
of women in the United States and around the world. This extensive
collection includes correspondence; biographical sketches; plays;
surveys; minutes;
drafts and reports of federal and state legislation; legal digests
and reports concerning labor laws and other legal matters affecting
women; trial materials
and court cases; government documents including House and Senate
resolutions, hearings, and bills; United Nations documents; and
pamphlets and
publications of the NWP.
Papers of Carrie Chapman Catt MFM 502
The papers of Carrie Lane Chapman Catt (1859-1947) reflect her
dedication to two ideals - the rights of women, particularly the
right to vote, and world
peace. The greater part of these manuscripts (1890-1920) relates
to her efforts to secure the ballot for women. After the adoption
of the 19th amendment
in 1920, she became increasingly concerned with the settlement of
international problems. There is an extensive file of her speeches
and articles as well
as subject files and papers relating to the many organizations with
which she was affiliated. Filmed from manuscripts at the Library
of Congress.
The Papers of Eleanor Roosevelt, 1933-1945 MFM
1179
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) is indisputably one of the most
influential public figures of the twentieth century. The
correspondence and enclosures
included in this microfilmed publication have been selected from
the vast collection of Eleanor Roosevelt papers at the Franklin
Delano Roosevelt
Library at Hyde Park, New York, focusing exclusively on the White
House years, 1933-45. Ninety-three correspondent's files were
selected with the
objective of detailing her thought and activities in four major
subject areas: social welfare and depression relief; race
relations; women in American
politics; and youth activities. However, these are by no means
exhaustive of the many personal and political themes on which these
papers shed
light. Part of "Research Collections in Women's Studies" series.
Papers of the Blackwell Family MFM 501
The Blackwell family papers trace the evolution of women's rights
in many fields - political, religious, medical, economic, and
domestic. Beginning with
the pioneer work of Lucy Stone, who in 1847 gave her first lecture
on women's rights, and continuing until 1950, the year of the death
of her daughter,
Alice Stone Blackwell, these papers present a century of dramatic
change in the status of women. Twenty family members are
represented. Elizabeth
Blackwell was the first woman to receive an M.D. Degree, and her
diaries (1836-1908), correspondence, and writings document her
struggle to open the
medical profession to women. Emily Blackwell followed her sister
Elizabeth and was a co-founder of the first women's hospital
staffed by women
physicians in the U.S. The papers of Henry B. Blackwell, a
renowned advocate of woman suffrage and abolition, contain
financial papers, autobiographical
sketches (1825-1858) and correspondence. His wife, Lucy Stone, was
also a leader in antislavery and women's rights and her
correspondents include
many famous names. Papers of their daughter, Alice Stone
Blackwell, include diaries (1872-1937) documenting her own work for
women's rights. Another
family member, Antoinette Louisa Brown Blackwell, was the first
woman to be ordained a minister (ordained as Congregationalist in
1853, she later became
a Unitarian). This collection was filmed from manuscripts at the
Library of Congress.
Papers of the Women's Trade Union League and its
Principal Leaders MFM 1158
The Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) was founded in Boston in 1903
by middle-class advocates of social justice and working women. The
basic
bond between the two groups was their womanhood -it was an effort
by women to aid women. This collection, assembled from seven
different repositories,
represents the principal records pertaining to the League.
Included are the following: Margaret Dreier Robins Papers (66
reels); National Women's Trade
Union League Papers (4 reels); Mary Anderson Papers (4 reels);
Women's Trade Union League of New York Papers (25 reels); Leonora
O'Reilly Papers
(13 reels); Rose Schneiderman Papers (2 reels); Agnes Nestor Papers
(7 reels); Smaller Collections (Mary Kenney O'Sullivan
Autobiography and
collections from the Boston and Chicago Leagues, 1 reel); and the
WTUL Publications (9 reels). The printed guide includes much
historical background
information.
Records of the Ante-Bellum Southern Plantatons from the
Revolution Through the Civil War MFM 926
This is a large collection of plantation records which offer source
material on nearly every aspect of plantation life. Not only
business operations and day-to-day labor routines, but family
matters, the roles of women, racial attitudes, relations
between masters and slaves, social and cultural life, the values
shared by members of the planter class, and the tensions and
anxieties that were inseparable from a slave society are revealed
here. Although they were compiled by a member of the white class,
they provide much valuable information on the history of black
slavery. The manuscripts are divided into series according to the
location of the originals.
Records of the Bureau of Vocational Information,
1908-1932 MFM 1180
The Bureau of Vocational Information of New York City (BVI) was the
successor to the Intercollegiate Bureau of Occupations. Its
purpose was to gather
and distribute information concerning vocational opportunities for
women. This collection contains correspondence; numerous
questionnaires; printed items
concerning women's employment, education, and training; most issues
of BVI's News Bulletin (1922-1926); files on occupations;
and an
extensive "Study of Secretarial Work."
Records of the National Association of Colored Women's
Clubs, 1895-1992 MFM 1274
This collection includes the NACW convention minutes from 1895-1992
and the Presidents' Office Files, 1958-1968. Press coverage of NACW
activities from 1899-1939 is also included.
Records of the National Council of Women of the United
States, Inc. 1888-ca. 1970 MFE 4338
This collection documents the activities of the NCW, including its
executive committee meetings, annual and biennial meetings,
conferences, seminars, and other events, and the work of its ad hoc
and standing committees (e.g., the International Hospitality
Committee).
Records of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of
Labor, 1918-1965 MFM 1168
The U.S. Congress established a federal Women's Bureau in the U.S.
Department of Labor in 1920 with the mandate to "investigate and
improve"
conditions for women workers. Although never a large nor powerful
agency, it sometimes achieved amazing results. It gathered volumes
of materials
used to create its reports, with the richest falling in the New
Deal and World War II period. The Library has part I of a
proposed four-part microfilm edition
of their files. Part I contains Monthly Reports of the Director
and the Annual Summaries of these reports, Conferences of the
Women's Bureau, and
Speeches and Articles prepared by the officers.
Southern Historical Manuscripts MFE 116
Collection of family papers, diaries, letters, and notebooks
dealing with 19th century plantation life in Arkansas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, and Virginia. The original manuscripts are at
Louisiana State University.
Southern Women and Their Families in the 19th Century:
Papers and Diaries MFM 1259
Witchcraft in Europe and America MFM 1334
MTSU Library has only the American parts of this collection.
Witchcraft in New England MFM 1261
"This collection brings together over 60 works representing some
7,000 pages of information gleaned from the over 1,500-item Salem
Village witchcraft collection maintained by the Danvers Archival
Center, a department of the Peabody Institute Library of Danvers,
Massachusetts" (from the Introduction).
Women's Labour League-Labour Party Women's
Organization MFE 4346
Founded in 1906, the Women's Labour League was a broadly based
feminist pressure group in England drawing members and support from
the Labour
Party, Trade Unions, and similar organizations. The ideals of the
League were for socialism and equality for all, but they focused
their efforts on achieving
equality for women. To achieve wider scope and a greater measure
of support the Women's Labour League disappeared as a separate
affiliated
organization in 1918 and became an integrated section of the Labour
Party as the Labour Party Women's Organization. The Conference
Proceedings
and Annual Reports (71 fiche) cover 1906-1977. The
League Leaflet, and Continuations (including The Labour
Woman)
(176 fiche) covers 1911-1971. See also MFE 4347 (entry # 211).
Women's Social and Political Emancipation: The
Suffragette Fellowship Collection in the Museum of London
MFM 1291
This collection includes correspondence, personal papers, and
minute books; pamphlets, leaflets, and handbills; annual reports of
the National Women's Social and Political Union, the Women's
Freedom League, and the National Women's Social and Political
Union; and photographs.
