American Women
A Gateway to Library of Congress Resources for the Study of Women's History and Culture in the United States.
A part of the American Memory Project, the bulk of this site is an enhanced electronic version of a 456-page guide, originally published in 2001, to researching Women's History at the Library of Congress. It is divided into sections based on the physical location of each collection. Each section has descriptions of how to use the collection, some details about the collection itself, contact information, and a list of external websites. There is also an interesting collection of short essays on specific historical topics.
The Nineteenth Amendment
National Archives and Record Administration
The 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920 when Tennessee became the 36th state to adopt the amendment. The original document is available here as well as other documents and historical information depicting the long struggle from the initial resolution in 1868 to its eventual inclusion as an amendment to the constitution.
Places Where Women Made History
National Park Service
A list of 74 historical sites in New York and Massachusetts listed in the National Register. This website includes maps, photos, and biographies of each woman and location featured such as Susan B. Anthony's Birthplace in Western Massachusetts and the Margaret Sanger Clinic in New York City. Also included is a bibliography of print materials and links to other electronic Women's History Resources.
Standardization of Women's Clothing
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Ready-to-wear women's clothing did not exist until late in the 1920s. In comparison, men's ready-to-wear became available shortly after the Civil War. The standardization process began in earnest in 1939 when the Department of Agriculture (USDA) began a study of 15,000 women. Between 1942 and 1949, using USDA data, and data based on measurements taken from 6,510 WACs during WWII, NIST created a recommended standard sizing that gained widespread use in 1957. The standard was discarded in 1983.
Women Come to the Front: Journalists, Photographers, and Broadcasters During World War II
Library of Congress
Over 127 women were accredited correspondents in World War II. This website features 8 of these women and includes photographs, biographies, and a brief history of women in journalism from the 1700s to the 1980s.
Women's History Links
National Archives and Records Administration
For the serious researcher. Links to bibliographies detailing the National Archive's rich holdings. Different sections provide resource information on African-American women, women in politics, social movements, suffrage, and women in the military. Many of the links are to libraries and educational institutions outside of the government.
Women's History Month
Senator Barbara Boxer
Women's History Month began as Women's History Week in 1981 from a resolution sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. Barbara Mikulski(http://www.nwhp.org/whm/themes/history-of.html). Since 1987, it has had Congressional bipartisan support to expand to the whole month of March. Senator Boxer's website offers an annotated timeline of important events and people from 1700 to the present as well as links to more in-depth historical information. "Profiles of Extraordinary Women," highlights 14 women, some famous, some not, such as Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper who "coined the term “debugging” after removing a moth from a computer."
Women Soldiers of the Civil War
National Archives and Records Administration
Estimates vary about the number of women who fought in the Civil War, but the common thread among them is that women had to assume a male gender role and were sent home if their sex was discovered, usually after injury or death. Very few records exist and most of the information comes from obituaries. This article describes how women were able to remain undetected when they enrolled and throughout their military careers.
"Votes for Women" Suffrage Pictures, 1850-1920
Library of Congress
From the American Memory Project and part of the "By Popular Demand" series. Photographs of "suffrage parades, picketing suffragists, and an anti-suffrage display, as well as cartoons commenting on the movement." Includes a timeline of the Women's Suffrage Movement.
