Library Guides: Gender and Women's Studies: Primary Sources

Government Documents

Congressional Publications This link opens in a new window
Indexes Congressional publications including Congressional research and hearings from 1789 to the present, linking to full text when available.
Mississippi Members of Congress This link opens in a new window
Provides basic information on everyone who has represented the state in the U.S. Congress from 1801 to the present. The database includes years in office, congressional districts, committee memberships, and leadership positions.
HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
Provides comprehensive coverage of law and law-related periodicals. Also contains historical trial records, important legal works from the 16th to the 20th centuries, treaties, and select government records, including the Congressional Record and the Federal Register.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Full text coverage of general news, business, legal, government and other topics.

New Library Resources

LGBT Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Archival runs of 26 of the most influential, longest-running serial publications covering LGBT interests. Includes the pre-eminent US and UK titles – The Advocate and Gay Times, respectively. Chronicles more than six decades of the history and culture of the LGBT community. In addition to LGBT/gender/sexuality studies, this material also serves related disciplines such as sociology, political science, psychology, health, and the arts.
Struggle for Women's Rights: Organizational Records, 1880-1990 This link opens in a new window
As the movement for women’s suffrage in America was accelerating, the National Woman’s Party (NWP) brought to the campaign a new militancy and daring. Originally a committee of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), the NWP was founded in 1913 when Alice Paul and her colleagues broke away from NAWSA in dissent over strategy and tactics.
Women's Studies Manuscripts Collections from the Schlesinger Library: Voting Rights, National Politics, and Reproductive Rights This link opens in a new window
This valuable collection of materials from the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College tells the story of the fight for voting rights for women at the national, regional, and local levels. The papers of key national leaders like Julia Ward Howe, Anna Howard Shaw, and Matilda Gage are included. Equally important are the papers of lesser known state and local leaders like Catharine Waugh McCulloch of Illinois, Olympia Brown of Wisconsin, and Nellie Nugent Somerville of Mississippi. In addition to the Voting Rights papers, this module also includes records on women involved in national politics, like Mary Dewson and Jeannette B. Rankin. Finally, the last piece of this module is records from the Schlesinger Library’s family planning oral history project and records of Mary Ware Dennett and the Voluntary Parenthood League.
Vogue Archive This link opens in a new window
A searchable archive of American Vogue, from the first issue in 1892 to the current month, reproduced in high-resolution color page images. Pages, advertisements, covers and fold-outs have been included, with rich indexing enabling researchers to find images by garment type, designer and brand names. The Vogue Archive preserves the work of the world's greatest fashion designers, stylists and photographers and is a unique record of American and international fashion, culture and society from the dawn of the modern era to the present day.
Women's Wear Daily Archive This link opens in a new window
An archive of Women's Wear Daily, from its launch in 1910 to recent issues,* reproduced in high-resolution images. Pages, articles, advertisements, and covers have been included, with searchable text and indexing. The Women's Wear Daily Archive preserves one of the fashion industry's most influential reads. Key moments in the history of the industry, as well as major designers, brands, retailers and advertisers are all covered in this publication of record. * 6-month embargo on new issues.
Women and Social Movements: International, 1840-Present This link opens in a new window
This digital archive includes 150,000 pages of conference proceedings, reports of international women's organizations, publications and web pages of women's non-governmental organizations, and letters, diaries, and memoirs of women active internationally since the mid-nineteenth century.
Women and Social Movements in Modern Empires Since 1820 This link opens in a new window
Women and Social Movements in Modern Empires since 1820 explores prominent themes in world history since 1820: conquest, colonization, settlement, resistance, and post-coloniality, as told through women’s voices.
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 This link opens in a new window
Women and Social Movements in the United States,1600-2000 is a resource for students and scholars of U.S. history and U.S. women's history. Organized around the history of women in social movements in the U.S. between 1600 and 2000, this collection seeks to advance scholarly debates and understanding about U.S. women’s history generally and at the same time make those insights accessible to teachers and students at universities, colleges, and high schools. The collection currently includes 124 document projects and archives with more than 5,100 documents and 175,000 pages of additional full-text documents, written by 2,800 primary authors. It also includes book, film, and website reviews, notes from the archives, and teaching tools.
Women at Work during World War II: Rosie the Riveter and the Women's Army Corps This link opens in a new window
This database contains two major sets of records documenting the experience of American women during World War II: Records of the Women’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor, and Correspondence of the Director of the Women’s Army Corps. Primary sources document a wide range of issues pertinent to women during this time of turbulent change, including studies on the treatment of women by unions in several midwestern industrial centers, and the influx of women to industrial centers during the war. Topics covered in records and correspondence include women’s work in war industries, pivotal issues like equal pay, childcare and race, and extensive documentation on the women who joined and served in the Women’s Army Corps as WACs.

Archival Collections

Women's Studies Collections in UM Archives & Special Collections
A list of collections in the Archives & Special Collections at the University of Mississippi, contain correspondence, manuscripts, and ephemera relating to gender relations in Mississippi and the South.
LGBTQ Collections in UM Archives & Special Collections
A list of collections in the Archives & Special Collections at the University of Mississippi as they relate to issues of sexuality and gender identity with regards to lesbians, gay men, bisexuality, homosexuality, queer, transgender, transsexual, and queer individuals and communities, particularly with regards to Mississippi and Mississippians.
LGBTQ+ Studies Web Archive
The LGBTQ+ Studies Web Archive at the Library of Congress collects and preserves online content which documents LGBTQ+ history, scholarship, and culture in the United States and around the world.
List of Digital Collections in LGBTQ U.S. History
A compilation of links to digital collections of LGBTQ archival primary sources.

Artstor Digital Library This link opens in a new window
The Artstor Digital Library is a nonprofit resource that provides more than one million digital images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences with an accessible suite of software tools for teaching and research.
Beginning August 1, 2024 Artstor's content is now accessed on JSTOR.

Digital Public Library of America
DPLA brings together the collections of libraries, archives, and museums from across the country into one searchable portal.
Library of Congress Digital Collections
Digitized collections of primary sources on many different topics related to American history.

NAACP Papers This link opens in a new window
The NAACP Papers collections contains internal memos, legal briefings, and direct action summaries from national, legal, and branch offices throughout the country.

Digital Transgender Archive
An online hub for digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings throughout the world.
LGBTQ+ Politics and Political Candidates Web Archive
The LGBTQ+ Politics and Political Candidates Web Archive at the Library of Congress captures digital content related to LBGTQ+ political candidates and political issues and topics at various levels of government, with a focus on lesser-known local and state politics.

Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century. This link opens in a new window
The Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century includes primary source material from federal agencies, letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, and diaries relating to the Civil Rights movement in the latter half of the twentieth century.

Documenting the American South
Digital publishing initiative from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that provides Internet access to texts, images, and audio files related to Southern history, literature, and culture from the colonial period through the first decades of the 20th century. Includes thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs.

Fannie Lou Hamer: Papers of a Civil Rights Activist, Political Activist and Woman This link opens in a new window
Contains more than three thousand pieces of correspondence plus financial records, programs, photographs, newspaper articles, invitations, and other printed items.

Endangered Archives Project
Digitized collections of pre-modern materials that are "in danger of destruction, neglect or physical deterioration world-wide."

Women Working, 1800-1930 This link opens in a new window
Digital exploration of women's impact on the economic life of the United States between 1800 and the Great Depression. Includes items on working conditions, workplace regulations, home life, costs of living, commerce, recreation, health and hygiene, and social issues.

Bluestocking Feminism 1738-1785
Eighteenth-century Bluestocking women were, on the whole, an upper-class and politically and socially conservative group. For this reason, their writings have been largely neglected in feminist and literary history. In recent decades, however, feminist scholarship and criticism has retrieved the Bluestocking women from their marginal position in eighteenth-century literature. The collection will be of interest to students of eighteenth century history, literature, culture and gender studies. Part of the Past Master database.
Makin' Do
Produced by the Department of History and the Media and Documentary Projects Center at the University of Mississippi. This oral history-based film was produced by history graduate students and documents the experiences of women in Northeast Mississippi who “Made Do” over the course of the 20th century.

Newspapers

In addition to the newspapers available digitally, the library also has a number of newspapers (including many historic Mississippi newspapers) available on microfilm. Use the library catalog to search our microfilm holdings.

New York Times, 1851-2020 This link opens in a new window
The New York Times (NYT) is an internationally recognized daily newspaper founded in 1851 and distributed throughout the United States. This historical database offers downloadable PDF's from each issue published between 1851 and 2020.
Washington Post, 1877-2007 This link opens in a new window
The Washington Post is a major American daily newspaper founded in 1877. It is the largest newspaper published in Washington, D.C., and has a particular emphasis on national politics.
Chicago Defender, 1910 - 1975 This link opens in a new window
The Chicago Defender has been a leading voice of the black community well beyond Chicago. This database offers downloadable PDFs from each issue in published for the entire run of the newspaper, from 1910 to 1975.
Pittsburgh Courier, 1911-2002 This link opens in a new window
The Pittsburgh Courier was an African-American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Japan Times Archives This link opens in a new window
Provides access to searchable English-language articles covering over a century of Japanese history from 1897-2015.

Independent Voices
Independent Voices is a fully digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines, and journals. Includes publications from LGBT, feminist, African American, far right, Latino, Native American groups, and others.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Digitized, fully searchable historic newspapers from across the country. Time span: 1789 - 1924.

African American Newspapers, Series 1, 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window
Features newspapers published by or for African Americans in 35 states from 1827 to 1998. Funded by the Dr. Gerald W. Walton Endowment.
20th-Century American Newspapers, Series 2 This link opens in a new window
Offers searchable digital editions of three U.S. newspapers from 1923-1993. Includes: Press-Register (Mobile, Alabama; 1970-1992), The Seattle Times (Seattle, Washington; 1923-1984), The Times (Trenton, New Jersey; 1923-1993).

Associated Press News Dispatches
News dispatches from the Washington, D.C., Bureau of the Associated Press, 1915-1930. Topics include but are not limited to World War One, women’s suffrage, the Jazz Age, and the outbreak of the Great Depression.
Noise Magazine Archives, 2010-2011
Gay and lesbian magazine published in Birmingham, Alabama

Search Guides

Gender and Women's Studies

Government Documents

New Library Resources

Archival Collections

Newspapers