Research and Instructional Services Librarian
Welcome!
On this guide, you'll find links to resources that will help you with your research projects in UH 229.
Scroll down for more biography databases, general research databases, recommended articles from the Encyclopedia of Women's History, and book recommendations to get you started.
General Research
- ScoutThe main search tool for UA Libraries, Scout allows you to search the library catalog and many of our databases all at once. Scout is a great place to start a broad search on a topic, but it's a good idea to search in targeted databases as well.
- GenderWatch This link opens in a new window
GenderWatch is a full text database of publications that focus on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas. The database provides in-depth coverage of the subjects that are uniquely central to women's lives, including family, childbirth, birth control, daycare, domestic abuse, work and the workplace, sexual harassment, aging, aging parents, body image, eating disorders and social and societal roles.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Images of the full text of many scholarly titles in a range of subject areas, including literature, biological sciences, economics, finance, and statistics. Search the archive or pull up a specific article.
- Project MUSE This link opens in a new windowProject MUSE provides full-text access scholarly journals in the humanities and social sciences. The database is a collaboration between Johns Hopkins University and other university presses and not-for-profit publishers. Also included are the UPCC collections in Asian and Pacific Studies, and Poetry, Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction.
Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in History
- Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World HistoryThis encyclopedia has articles on a wide range of topics related to women's lives, including specific women. Check the reference lists for further reading recommendations.
Recommended articles for your "Life Before Electicity" assignment:
Biography
Search or browse these databases to find biographical information about British and American women. You can explore by time period, profession, and social movements.
- Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 This link opens in a new windowFull-text of published histories and records of women’s reform organizations throughout the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It includes The History of Woman Suffrage; proceedings of the national conventions of female Anti-Slavery societies in the 1830s; proceedings of women’s rights conventions in the 1850s and 1860s; annual reports of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union; and local and national histories of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs.
- Women and Social Movements, International - 1840 to Present This link opens in a new windowThis collection of primary resources documents international women’s social movements from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Included are conference proceedings; reports of international women's organizations; publications and web pages of women's non-governmental organization; and letters, diaries, and memoirs.
- American National Biography Online This link opens in a new window
The American National Biography Online provides information about prominent people from all eras who have influenced and shaped American history and culture. It contains detailed articles, internal cross-references, robust bibliographies, thousands of photographs and illustrations, and links to external web resources.
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography This link opens in a new windowDatabase of biographies of men and women who have shaped British history.
Books
There are many more books in the library on this topic, but these two ebooks may be a good place to start!
Women in Medieval Europe 1200-1500 by
Women in Medieval Europe explores the key areas of female experience in the later medieval period, from peasant women to Queens. The chapters are arranged thematically to show the varied roles and lives of women in and out of the home, covering topics such as marriage, religion, family and work.
Call Number: ebook
Women Have Always Worked by
Beginning in the colonial era, Alice Kessler-Harris looks at the public and private work spheres of diverse groups of women--housewives and trade unionists, immigrants and African Americans, professionals and menial laborers, and women from across the class spectrum.
Call Number: ebook
Primary Source Collections
"Primary sources" are documents or items that originate in the time you are studying. They can include documents like letters, diaries, newspapers, and official records; creative works likes novels or plays; and artifacts such as pottery, clothing, and architecture.
- Everyday Life and Women in America, c1800-1920 This link opens in a new windowAmerican social, cultural, and popular history during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It comprises thousands of fully searchable images (alongside transcriptions) of monographs, pamphlets, periodicals and broadsides addressing political, social and gender issues, religion, race, education, employment, marriage, sexuality, home and family life, health, and pastimes.
- Godey's Lady's Book This link opens in a new windowPart of Accessible Archives, this collection provides the complete run of Godey’s Lady’s Book, and contains the color plates as they originally appeared. In Philadelphia in 1830 Louis Antoine Godey (1804-1878) published the magazine designed specifically to attract the growing audience of American women. In addition to extensive fashion descriptions and plates, the early issues included biographical sketches, articles about mineralogy, handcrafts, female costume, the dance, equestrienne procedures, health and hygiene, recipes and remedies and the like. Each issue also contained two pages of sheet music, written essentially for the pianoforte.
- North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new windowNorth American Women's Letters and Diaries offers a large collection of women's diaries and correspondence spanning more than 300 years.
- Women's Studies Archive This link opens in a new windowThe Women's Studies Archive documents the social, political, and professional aspects of women's lives, offering resources pertaining to the roles, experiences, and achievements of women in society. The database is in four parts: Issues and Identities; Voice and Vision; Rare Titles from the American Antiquarian Society, 1820-1922; Female Forerunners Worldwide.