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

Library Databases

Archives of Sexuality and Gender This link opens in a new window
Largest digital collection of historical primary source publications relating to the history and study of sex, sexuality, gender and gender studies research. Spans 16th through 20th centuries.

British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries
Contemporary Women's Issues
Content covering topics including civil rights, health, education, professional development, and entrepreneurship.
History Vault - Women's Studies
Includes the Margaret Sanger Papers; Struggle for Women's Rights, 1880-1990; Women at Work During WWII; and Women's Studies Manuscript Collection from the Schlesinger Library: Voting Rights, National Politics and Reproductive Rights
LGBT Magazine Archive
26 influential magazines from the US and the UK, 1954-2015
LGBT Thought and Culture
"Books, periodicals, and archival materials documenting LGBT political, social and cultural movements throughout the twentieth century and into the present day."
North American Women's Drama
North American Women's Letters and Diaries
Women's Magazine Archive
Leading women consumer magazines from late-19th century to 2005
Women and Social Movements International, 1840-present
Women activists' writings, including personal letters and diaries, and conference proceedings at which key decisions were made
Women and Social Movements in Modern Empires Since 1820
Focused on "bringing the voices of the colonized to the forefront." "Documents related to the Habsburg Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the British, French, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, and United States Empires, and settler societies in the United States, New Zealand and Australia."
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000
Teaching-centered document projects, as well as primary source collections. Content curators also run an online journal, with new issues each fall and spring and featuring new document projects, book reviews, and more.

Women's Studies Archive This link opens in a new window
Traces the path of women’s issues from 19th and 20th centuries.

The Women's Movement: Digital Collections

Also see Library Databases above.

Gerritsen Collection of Aletta H. Jacobs
Books, pamphlets, and periodical related to the women's rights movement and the evolution of feminism. From the archives of Dutch physician Aletta Jacobs and her husband C.V. Gerritsen.
History Vault - Women's Studies
Includes the Margaret Sanger Papers; Struggle for Women's Rights, 1880-1990; Women at Work During WWII; and Women's Studies Manuscript Collection from the Schlesinger Library: Voting Rights, National Politics and Reproductive Rights
National Women's History Museum: Primary Sources
Organized by time periods and topics
DocsTeach: Women's Rights (National Archives)
Primary sources and teaching activities
Women's Suffrage (Library of Congress)
Primary Sources in Teacher's Guide

LGBTQ+: Digital Collections

Archives of Lesbian Oral Testimony (Simon Fraser University)
The Arquives: Canada's LGBTQ2+ Archives
A project of several university faculty and the Research Council of Canada.
Digital Transgender Archive
An online hub for digitized historical and born-digital archival materials from around the world. An international collaboration based at the College of the Holy Cross.
Lesbian Herstory Archives
Large collection of materials by and about lesbians and their communities, including oral histories and recordings. Hosted by the Pratt Information School.
LGBT Historical Society: Online Collections
Archival materials and oral histories, particularly on LGBT history in the California Bay area.
LGBTQIA+ Periodical and Ephemera Collection (Princeton University)
International collection of materials including periodicals, magazines, ephemera, and monographs. Majority of materials from the 1950s to the early 2000s
LGBTQ Publications (University of Texas - San Antonio, Libraries Special Collections)
LGBTQQ+ Studies: A Resource Guide (Library of Congress)
Features Library of Congress collections. See the navigation menu for featured topics and ways to search.
ONE National Gay & Lesbia Archives (USC Libraries)
Among the largest repositories of LGBTQ materials.
Outhistory.org: Featured
Featured materials on focused topics. You can use the Search navigation menu to explore other content.
Rainbow History Project
Digital archive and oral histories on LGBT history in the Washington, D.C. area.

Film

Kanopy This link opens in a new window
Includes access to a wide range of films and documentaries. You may find some titles to which Rowan does not currently have access. In these instances, faculty may submit a purchase request form. These films usually have 1-year subscriptions. For continued access, a film subscription will need to be renewed.