Library Briefings

Documentary evidence and historical scholarship

The Library adds Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000

Northwestern University Library is home to outstanding collections in the broad area of gender studies and in the even broader area of the social history of the United States. An important recent addition is a database aptly titled Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000. This collection of electronic primary and secondary resources, which has its roots in a seminar taught at SUNY Binghamton by historian Kathryn Sklar, was initially offered as a free web site comprised chiefly of original source documents and attendant commentary. Professor Sklar and her colleague, historian Thomas Dublin, responded to the enormous popularity of the site by expanding it into a subscription database that seeks "to advance scholarly debates and understanding at the same time that it makes the insights of women's history accessible to teachers and students at universities, colleges, and high schools."

The new version of this site is jointly published by the Center for the Historical Study of Women and Gender at SUNY Binghamton and Alexander Street Press. Although the site includes an array of materials -- books, pamphlets, dictionary of social movements, author database, Teacher’s Corner (including lesson ideas and questions) -- at the heart of the site are innovative "document projects." These projects pose questions, then provide documentary evidence that addresses the questions (many of the documents in the projects are available in digital form only via this database). Currently, 43 projects are available online. The editors hope to add 10 or 12 to the site each year, as well as book and web site reviews and an expanded Teacher’s Corner.

Recent examples of document project topics are as wide-ranging as "How Did Abolitionist Women and Their Slaveholding Relatives Negotiate Their Conflict over the Issue of Slavery?” and "How Did the Portland YWCA Enhance the Lives of Women, 1901-2000?" Projects include documents, images, introductions, abstracts, endnotes, bibliographies, and related links.

About half of the document projects are still freely available, while the other half are subscription-only. Both subscription and non-subscription materials are available to Northwestern users.

Searching this database is straightforward, though not entirely self-explanatory. In order to appreciate fully the search potential of the database, with its unusual variety of scholarly materials, users are encouraged to consult the "Guided Tour" portion of the help screens prior to starting a search. Women and Social Movements is available to Northwestern students, faculty, and staff at http://www.alexanderstreet6.com/wasm/. Alternatively, the database may be accessed via NUcat by searching under title and clicking as appropriate.

-- Harriet Lightman