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

National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, LSE Library TWL.1998.27

Individual women

Leading anti-Apartheid and left-wing activist Ruth First

Women in Science and Mathematics

Philippa Fawcett, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Survey of collections at particular repositories

The Feminist Library

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.