HIST 531History of Women in the United States 1870 to the Present

Edwards Campus Spring 2015

Researching United States historical topics often involves going to the historical documents themselves rather then just reading about them.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html

Washington Post / February 20, 1902

1905

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/index.html

When searching for primary sources—fundamental, authoritative, contemporary documents used to prepare later works—historians often overlook the abundance of publishedprimary source material. Women's diaries, correspondence, and autobiographies that have been printed either by the women themselves or someone else, either at the time of composition or centuries later, are primary sources and are found in abundance in the General Collections.

In addition to primary sources, researchers also look for secondary sources: books and articles describing and analyzing occurrences outside the writer's personal experience. The General Collections hold thousands of volumes of secondary sources. An item can be both a primary and a secondary source. When Mary Ritter Beard published her Woman as Force in History (New York: Macmillan Company, 1946; HQ1121.B36) [catalog record], she had created a secondary source, a history of women. The volume becomes a primary source when later historians examine it as a pioneering contribution to the writing of women's history.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/awgc1/index.html

Drawing of the National Women's Trade Union

League seal, ca. 1908-9. Julia Bracken Wendt.

National Women's Trade Union League

Records (oversize cabinet 2, drawer 1).

Manuscript Division. LC-MS-34363-1.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/awmss5/trade_reform.html

KU Libraries and your research of Women’s History

http://www.lib.ku.edu

Equal Pay Act of 1963

Bibliography at the end of the encyclopedia article:

Find this book?

Finding Books

Request a book the libraries do not own

http://www.lib.ku.edu

Submit

And, don’t hesitate to email me with any questions you have about using the services of the Libraries

Lissa Lord llord@ku.edu

How to find e-journals

Law Journals are a good source for finding documents. See all those citations? Those are the footnotes. Ask me for help:

Lissa Lordllord@ku.edu

Databases for Research

A list of databases from the Subject Listing on the Libraries’ Database and Articles page

This database is a bit tricky to search but you can search within searches and I could limit my search by “primary” documents.

Another database to try:

Proquest Research Library

Google Scholar

I’m beginning to search for the current Equal Pay Act and the role that Lily Ledbetter played in its signing by President Obama

Use Wikipedia to find places to go to next, cites to other sources.

USA.gov

Website:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/01/30/archives-president-obama-signs-lilly-ledbetter-fair-pay-act/

Questions?

http://www.lib.ku.edu