Library Guides: HIST 117 / WMNST 117: Women in United States History: Getting Started

Getting Started with Your Research

Start gathering information on your historical figure from these databases. Write down important dates, names, and events. Be sure to look at the bibliographies at the end of the articles in these encyclopedias. They will give you titles of biographies and autobiographies which you can search for in LionSearch.

Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL)
A great place to start gathering background information on your historical figure. Be sure to see what books and articles the encyclopedia entries have listed as references and further reading. You can search these titles in LionSearch to get access to them through Penn State University Libraries.

A collection of over 1000 reference resources.
Encyclopedia of American Studies
Use this to find biographies of historical figures. Click on "search" then "list of entries" then "biographies" to find the alphabetical list by last name. Also note the bibliography at the end of each entry and use LionSearch to find these books are articles.

The Encyclopedia of American Studies provides interdisciplinary coverage of the American experience, from pre-colonial days to the present. Over 660 articles cover areas such as history, literature, art, photography, film, architecture, urban studies, ethnicity, race, gender, economics, politics, wars, consumer culture, and global America.
LionSearch
Use this integrated search of books, e-books, research articles, newspaper articles, and magazine articles to find the items from the bibliographies in Gale Virtual Reference Encyclopedia and The Encyclopedia of American Studies. To find specific books or articles, use quotation marks around the title (example: "A Hunger for Home: Louisa May Alcott's Place in American Culture")

What are Primary Sources?

Primary Sources
This video gives a good explanation of what makes a primary source.

Finding Primary Sources

Finding primary sources doesn't have to be hard. Use the information you gathered in the encyclopedia articles and books at the top of this guide to search the databases in this section.

For example, if you use the advanced search in the National Archives to look up "Earhart, Amelia" with the dates 1930-1940, you get photographs, letters, and a U.S. Navy report of the search for her. These are all primary sources you can use in your research.

Catalog (Penn State University Libraries catalog)
The online catalog of materials owned by Penn State University Libraries.

This is the online catalog of materials owned by Penn State Libraries. All formats (books, journals, audiovisuals, maps, recordings, etc.) are included. Circulation status for individual items is also provided. Coverage: Presently contains about 7 million records. Updates: Continuous up-to-the-minute as new records are added.

Use the Keyword function and combine terms to search on a topic then use the subject headings from relevant books for additional search terms. Try searching "biography + last name" for biographies on your historical figure. (example: biography + Earhart)
Write down the call number and location for any book you want. If the item is not at your campus use the "I Want It" button to request it.
For electronic books, click the link under the words "online content" to access the full text
Review these Search Tips for more help

Women's Magazine Archive
The complete archives of the foremost titles of this type, including Good Housekeeping and Ladies’ Home Journal.

Women’s Magazine Archive provides access to the complete archives of the foremost titles of this type, including Good Housekeeping and Ladies’ Home Journal, which serve as canonical records of evolving assumptions about gender roles and cultural mores. Other titles here focus on narrower topics but deliver valuable source content for specific research areas. Parents, for example, is of particular relevance for research in the fields of children’s education, psychology, and health, as well as reflecting broader social historical trends.
Everyday Life and Women in America c.1800-1920
Unique primary source material for the study of American social, cultural, and popular history in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Everyday Life & Women in America c.1800-1920 showcases unique primary source material for the study of American social, cultural, and popular history in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Women's History Online, 1543-1945 (Gerritsen)
Books, pamphlets, and periodicals reflecting the evolution of feminist thought and the movement for women’s rights through 1945.

Full text books, pamphlets and periodicals reflecting the evolution of feminist consciousness and the movement for women's rights through 1945. Includes materials from continental Europe, the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand, dating from 1543-1945. The anti-feminist case is presented as well as the pro-feminist; many other titles present a purely objective record of the condition of women at a given time.
Women and Social Movements, International
A collection of primary sources from writings of women activists, their personal letters and diaries, and conference proceedings at which important decisions were made and social movements board.

Backed by a global editorial board of 130 leading scholars from around theworld, this landmark collection [Women and Social Movements, International]of primary sources illuminates a vast area of modern history. Through thewritings of women activists, their personal letters and diaries, andconference proceedings at which pivotal decisions were made and socialmovements were born, this online collection traces the global history ofwomen's international agendas and illuminates their enormous influence onthe course of events and shifts in attitudes that have defined modern life.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries
This database includes approximately 100,000 pages of published letters and diaries from individuals writing from Colonial times to 1950 plus 4,000 pages of previously unpublished materials.

North American Women's Letters and Diaries includes approximately 100,000 pages of published letters and diaries from individuals writing from Colonial times to 1950 plus 4,000 pages of previously unpublished materials. Drawn from more than 1,000 sources, including journal articles, pamphlets, newsletters, monographs, and conference proceedings, much of the material is in copyright. Represented are all age groups and life stages, all ethnicities, many geographical regions, the famous and the not so famous. More than 1,500 biographies will enhance the use of the database. The collection includes one of the most comprehensive bibliographies of women's diaries and letters yet published. It lists over 2,000 published and unpublished items from a variety of sources, including online resources and microform.
Women Writers Online
The Women Writers Project is a long-term research project devoted to early modern women’s writing and electronic text encoding. This database houses texts by pre-Victorian women writers out of the archives and makes them accessible online.

The Northeastern University (formerly Brown University) Women Writers Project is a long-term research project devoted to early modern women's writing and electronic text encoding. Our goal is to bring texts by pre-Victorian women writers (pre 1830 in England) out of the archive and make them accessible to a wide audience of teachers, students, scholars, and the general reader. We support research on women's writing, text encoding, and the role of electronic texts in teaching and scholarship.

Library of Congress
The largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts in its collections. Use the "Digital Collections" search to find items available online.
The National Archives Catalog
Use the advanced search to look for items in a specific date range.

Women in the National Archives
This collection contains a finding aid to women's studies resources in The National Archives Original documents on the suffrage question in Britain, the Empire and colonial territories. locate details of documents at TNA relating to women. The original documents cover the campaign for women's suffrage in Britain, 1903-1928 and the granting of women's suffrage in colonial territories, 1930-1962.

This collection consists of two distinct elements: A finding aid to women's studies resources in The National Archives Original documents on the suffrage question in Britain, the Empire and colonial territoriesThe finding aid is the result of a five-year project by staff at The National Archives in the mid-1990s and enables researchers to quickly locate details of documents at TNA relating to women. This finding aid is far more detailed and extensive than anything available elsewhere online and has the benefit of ranging across all of the document classes TNA hold. The original documents cover the campaign for women's suffrage in Britain, 1903-1928 and the granting of women's suffrage in colonial territories, 1930-1962.
History Vault
Primary source documents including records from: The Struggle for Women's Rights, 1880-1990 (records of the National Woman's Party, the League of Women Voters, and the Women's Action Alliance) and Women's Studies Manuscript Collections from The Schlesinger Library;

Primary source documents including records from civil rights activists and organizations (Southern Christian Leadership Council, NAACP, Revolutionary Action Movement). Other collections include; Law and Society Since the Civil War; Slavery and the Law (petitions to southern legislatures and courts and slavery statutes); Southern Life and African-American History, 1775-1915 (diaries, account books and other records of daily life); The Struggle for Women's Rights, 1880-1990 (records of the National Woman's Party, the League of Women Voters, and the Women's Action Alliance); Women's Studies Manuscript Collections from The Schlesinger Library; The Vietnam War and American Foreign Policy, 1960-1975, and Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1880-1930.
Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975
This database has primary source material from 1950-1975, including on Youth Culture, Student Protests, TV, Music, Movies, Civil Rights, Women’s Liberation, The Space Race, Consumerism, Credit Cards, Computers, Vietnam War and Nuclear Disarmament. The database covers the US and UK, so be sure to acknowledge this when searching for your figure in U.S. history.

Music, Politics, Fashion, Youth Culture – the period from 1950 to 1975 witnessed dramatic changes in society. There was the onset of Rock & Roll; the introduction of computers and credit cards; the boom of radio and television; and campaigns for black power, civil rights and women’s liberation. All around the world there were challenges to authority.By focussing on substantial collections of original archival material – manuscript, typescript and ephemera – from key libraries in Britain and America – Adam Matthew provides the primary sources that will enable students and scholars to examine these issues in detail and at first hand: Changing Lifestyles, 1950-1975 Youth Culture Student Protests Mai ‘68 Popular Culture; TV; Music; Movies Civil Rights; Women’s Liberation; Minority Groups The Space Race Consumerism; Credit Cards; Computers Vietnam War Nuclear Disarmament
Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives, 1960 to 1974
Chronicles American history, culture and politics through letters, diaries, memoirs, oral histories; posters, broadsides, pamphlets, advertisements, newsreel footage and other materials from the sixties and early seventies. Topics include the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, the Equal Rights Amendment, Earth Day, the Free Speech Movement, the Stonewall riots, Woodstock, the Summer of Love, the Space Race and more.

Chronicles American history, culture and politics through letters, diaries, memoirs, oral histories; posters, broadsides, pamphlets, advertisements, newsreel footage and other materials from the sixties and early seventies. Topics include the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, the Equal Rights Amendment, Earth Day, the Free Speech Movement, the Stonewall riots, Woodstock, the Summer of Love, the Space Race and more.