Primary
Resources
Documents, online here and available through our partners, for teaching any American History class.
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Primary Resources
Second Wave Feminsim
Annotations courtesy of Dr. Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello
Courtesty of Salem State Archives
Oral History of Prof. Mildred Berman.
This document covers all aspects of Prof. Berman’s life. Prof. Berman was part of a salary equity suit at Salem State during the 1960s and 1970s (this discussion begins on page 61). The suit argued that women in the History, English, Geography, and Physical Education departments were getting paid less than their male counterparts. Prof. Berman’s discussion of the suit is illustrative of the challenges that women faced in the workplace, as she was openly ridiculed by her colleagues and faced opposition from the administration.
Courtesy of the Boston Public Library
“Fidel Castro’s Address to the Congress of American Women (CAW).” 1963. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: The Workers Vanguard Publishing Association, 1963."
Castro’s speech equates the plight of women with that of exploited workers and asserts that socialist societies are doing more to help women than capitalist societies.
“The Boston Project: Toward an Agenda for Gay & Lesbian Citizens.” Boston, MA: City of Boston, 1983.
The Boston Project was a year long study of how the city of Boston can better meet the needs of the gay and lesbian community and counter discrimination.
Maynard, Mary and Mary-Lou Maynard Dow. Hassle-Free Boston: A Manual for Women.
This book is a resource for women on hotels, restaurants, shopping, day care, etc. in Boston. It provides a list of organizations for women so that like-minded women can network with one another.
Web Resources Research Collections in the Boston Area
National Women’s History Project
The authoritative women's history site, the National Women's History Project page includes classroom ideas, suggested ways to honor women's history in your community, a listing of events nationwide, membership information, links, and more. According to their website “The National Women's History Project, founded in 1980, is an educational nonprofit organization. Our mission is to recognize and celebrate the diverse and historic accomplishments of women by providing information and educational materials and programs.”
The CWLU Herstory Website
A great place to start any search for materials related to women’s liberation. A wonderful site
that tells the story of the Chicago Women’s Liberation Union, a group of women who came
together between 1969-1977 (out of a variety of social movements of the time) to create
grassroots programs to change the experiences of women and push for widespread revolution in
American society. This site includes much about the history of CWLU, but also helps place the
group more broadly in the history of both women’s liberation and women’s rights work more
generally. Includes a timeline of women’s liberation, a fantastic section of full-text versions of
“Classic Feminist Writings” and a section of “Historical Links” that connects visitors to a host of
other high-quality sites related to women’s history and archival resources. This final section is a
fantastic gateway to much of the best the web has to offer. You can find materials related to Black feminism here.
Documents from the Women's Liberation Movement: An On-line Archival Collection .
The materials in this small but historically significant on-line archival collection from the Special
Collections Library at Duke University were selected by Duke professor Anne Valk to support
assignments in her classes in the late 1990s. Material was also contributed by Rosalyn Baxandall
(SUNY, Old Westbury) and Linda Gordon (University of Wisconsin, Madison) who have
recently published an edited collection of documents from the women’s liberation movement
(Dear Sisters: Dispatches from the Women’s Liberation Movement. New York: Basic Books,
2000). This archive is particularly useful, as it includes not just text documents but also some
visual material, a satirical play, a song book (lyrics and music), minutes of a grassroots group
and even a report on unequal funding for school athletics by a recent high school graduate.
The Feminist Chronicles, 1953 – 1993 ,
A chronology of the feminist movement [primarily in the U.S.] from 1953 to 1993. Covers
Events, Issues, and Backlash. Also includes early documents from the National Organization for
Women and a bibliography. Online version of a print publication.
American Women’s History: A Research Guide
Provides “citations to print and Internet reference sources, as well as to selected large primary
source collections. The guide also provides information about the tools researchers can use to
find additional books, articles, dissertations, and primary sources.” – from website.
The Schlesinger Library is one of the best places in the nation to study the history of women in
the United State. The Schlesinger Library’s website provides access to information about its
collection of “letters and diaries, photographs, books and periodicals, ephemera, oral histories,
and audiovisual materials that document the history of women, families, and organizations,
primarily in the 19th and 20th centuries.” Particularly noteworthy subject areas are women’s
rights and suffrage, women’s labor and labor reform, women in the professions, science, politics,
and family life. The Schlesinger Library holds the papers of Betty Friedan, Julia Ward Howe,
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Florence Luscomb and others. The library has a significant collection
of personal papers and related material connected to the efforts of Massachusetts and Boston
area women and organizations in the long struggle for women’s rights. Collections include
material about the efforts of 19th century suffrage activities, women’s club work, various local
groups dedicated to woman suffrage, the intersection of protective legislation and suffrage work,
anti-suffrage activities, the “second wave” of feminism, and Boston women’s liberation groups
and activities that had local and national profiles, esp. Bread and Roses and Cell 16. It is also
home to a large culinary collection, and the Radcliffe Archives. You will not find primary
sources on-line here, and the materials do not circulate, but the Schlesinger’s rich resources are
free and open to the public. The collection is completely searchable through the Harvard
University library system (HOLLIS). Instructions for searching are found on the Schlesinger’s
website. Reference Librarians are available to help researchers.
Women’s Educational Center Records, 1971-1998, Northeastern University Archives and
These are the records of the Women’s Educational Center in Cambridge, which was established
as the Women’s Center in 1971 after a ten-day takeover of a Harvard building, led by members
of Bread and Roses, a Boston socialist-feminist group, well known in the history of the second
wave. The Center (which is still going strong) has always been committed to empowering
women and helping them make changes in their lives. While the material in this collection is not
available on line, a detailed finding aid is, and researchers can access the collection by
appointment. This collection is one of the best collections of Boston-area material related to the
complex and highly energized activities among women activists of the mid-70s through the
1990s. The Center newsletter “On Our Way” from 1971-74 are here; they offer a wonderful
window into the ideas that created the Center and shaped its activities in the early years. [ Note:
Film footage about the International Women’s Day March that led to the building takeover and
the Women’s Center creation is at the Schlesinger Library (see above) along with more
information about Bread and Roses Library in the Rochelle Ruthchild papers and the Annie
Popkin papers.]
