The History Collections website has been publishing pieces about women’s history in library, archive and other history collections for several years. In 2018 we gave the topic a special focus because of the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act.
We’ve brought together here a selection of earlier and new blog posts which cover a wide range of topics relevant to women’s history. As well as the theme of suffrage, the posts listed below cover individual women, some famous and some less known, women’s contribution to science and maths, and archival and library collections with a special focus on women. See the full list at https://historycollections.blogs.sas.ac.uk/collections-by-theme/womens-history.
Suffrage
- Road to Equality: Google and LSE Library celebrate suffrage The Women’s Library, LSE (2018)
- Women’s suffrage at home and away Bibliography of British and Irish History (2018)
- The Prospects for Women’s Suffrage City, University of London (2018)
Individual women
- Margaret Tomlinson Collection at the Historic England Archive: Part 1: Margaret Tomlinson and her work, Part 2: Margaret’s work conserved Historic England Archive & Library (2018)
- Lilias Trotter in the SOAS Archives SOAS Archives (2018)
- The Ruth First Archive Senate House Library (2016)
- Black Georgians: Phillis Wheatley Black Cultural Archives (2015)
Women in Science and Mathematics
- The Phillippa Fawcett Collection at the London Mathematical Society The London Mathematical Society (2018)
- Women in Science at the Dana Research Centre and Library, Science Museum Dana Research Centre and Library, Science Museum (2018)
- Women’s History at the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries (2018)
- The Engineering Institutions’ Librarians’ Committee: spotlight on female members Engineering Institutions’ Librarians’ Committee (2018)
- Margaret Macpherson: allies, music and hysteria at the Royal College of Physicians Royal College of Physicians library and archives (2018)
Survey of collections at particular repositories
- Unveiling Women’s History at the University of Leicester University of Leicester Library (2018)
- Her Books, Her stories: The Bing, Yates, and David Collections at the Warburg Institute Library Warburg Institute Library (2018)
- Feminist Library: 43 years of saving women’s stories Feminist Library (2018)
- Women’s Art Library and other Special Collections Goldsmiths, University of London Special Collections & Archives (2015)
- Women’s History Resources Queen Mary, University of London Archives (2015)
Themes at History Day
Many of the organisations at the 2018 History Day event showcased women’s history collections on their stands. History Day covers a diverse range of subject areas with something for everyone. Previous years have included a collaboration with the North American Collections Group to create an American Trail as part of the fair. Hope and Fear was borrowed from the 2016 Being Human festival. Magic and the Supernatural was chosen because the 2017 History Day coincided with Halloween. In 2018 we also had a themed page offering The Researcher’s View about experiences in libraries and archives. Find out more about History Day.