Women's History Month Web Resources

"Generations of Women Moving History Forward"

Women's History Quiz: Test your knowledge of women's history!

Overview | Collective Biographies | Comprehensive Sites | Primary Sources | Important Places and Events | Local

Overview

History of National Women’s History Month
Starting locally in California as a women’s history week, the celebration became a national month long celebration in the 1980. This site outlines the history. From the National Women’s History Project.

The Encyclopedia Britannica Guide to Women's History
A multimedia treatment of women in American history. Includes biographies, Internet links, primary source documents, etc. Divided into four major periods in American history--Early America (1600-1820), the Nineteenth Century (1820-1880), At the Crossroads (1880-1920), and Modern America (1920-present.) From Britannica Online.

Women's History in America
This site is a long essay, actually excerpted from the Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia, which covers the history of women in America from colonial times to the suffrage era. At the Women’s International Center. Good for a basic overview, with ties into the history of women worldwide.

Collective Biographies

Biography Resource Center and Marquis Who's Who
Biographical articles from reference books and periodicals, searchable by name or by other criteria. Biographical profiles on over 1.3 million individuals from fields including: government, business, science and technology, the arts, entertainment, and sports

75 Suffragists
A simple website listing, in alphabetical order, leading suffrage leaders with short biographies. Useful for identification. Most of the information here comes directly from the 4-volume set, Notable American Women. Mounted at the University of Maryland.

4000 Years of Women in Science
Short biographies and photographs of women who contributed to science, technology, and mathematics. This list emphasizes women of the past - mainly pre-20th century.

A Celebration of Women Writers
Mounted at the Van Pelt Library, University of Pennsylvania, this site provides a comprehensive listing of links to biographical and bibliographical information on women writers, and excerpts from books written by women.  You have to scroll down to get to the authors and books links. Accessible alphabetically by author name, and also by century, country, and ethnicity. Links are to external sites which may be in languages other than English.

Women of the American Civil War
From an extensive website has just about everything about the Civil War. Of interest for Women's History Month is this section "Women in the War." Includes biographies of abolitionists, spys, presidents' wives, and average citizens caught in the war. Read the biography of Rose O'Neal Greenhow,confederate spy and Montgomery County citizen.

American Women In Uniform
The site covers all major American wars and skirmishes from the Revolutionary War to Somalia and Bosnia. Information on women prisoners of war, medal recipients, spies, pilots, etc. Also an excellent section on myths, fallacies, and urban legends about military women. Maintained by Retired Military Captain Barbara A. Wilson (USAF) in honor of the almost two million American women veterans.

Biographies of Women Mathematicians
Biographical essays and photos of women who were achievers in the field of mathematics. Compiled by students in mathematics classes at Agnes Scott College, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Distinguished Women of Past and Present
Short biographies and related links on exceptional women "who contributed to our culture in many different ways." The biographies are arranged both by field of activity and alphabetically. This is Danuta Bois' personal website, compiled after she asked herself the question, "How many other accomplished women were there about whom we learned little or nothing in school?"

National Women's Hall of Fame
The purpose of this site is "to honor in perpetuity these women, citizens of the United States of America whose contributions….have been the greatest value for the development of their country." Searchable list or you may browse alphabetically. Varied selection from politics, arts, science, etc.

Notable Women
Site in comprised of biographies of women from ancient times to the present. Can be accessed A-Z and also by subject. Excellent links within the individual biographies which often include letters, papers, photos etc. At About.com.

Notable Women Ancestors
Mounted at Rootsweb.com, a well-known genealogical site. This database allows you to add your heroine to the biographies and genealogies of real everyday women ancestors. "The lives of ALL women are "notable" - at least in the eyes of the genealogists who research them, and that is the ONLY criteria necessary for a woman to be included at this web site."

Past Notable Women of Computing& Mathematics
Created at Yale University. Links to biographies of women who made important contributions in mathematics or computer science. Also links to pictures, and bibliographies. Because these are collections of links, the coverage is somewhat uneven among those women listed.

Women Artists in History
Huge compilation of women artists from medieval times to present, with links for only some of those listed. Large list of related links as well as a list of galleries. Created by a web designer, writer, and researcher.

Women Come To The Front
Biographies of women journalists, photographers, and broadcasters during WWII from the Library of Congress. Eight women are featured on the site with short biographies, photographs, and images from newspapers. Also a concise history of women in American journalism under the heading "War, Women and Opportunity."

Women in Aviation History - The Ninety Nines
Sponsored by the International Organization of Women Pilots. The "Women who Paved the Way" gives a history of women's role in aviation history.

Women Nobel Prize Laureates
Basic information on women Nobel Prize laureates with links to related sites. An excellent list of books to read more about important women scientists for all age levels. Good links to scientific organizations for women.

Women of Influence
Profiles of women rulers, members of Congress, inventors, Nobel Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize winners etc. from Factmonster.com. There is also information on women who have been featured on US postage stamps. A fun section is "Children of Invention" about girls who have patented inventions when they were as young as 9 years old.

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Comprehensive Sites

American Women's History: A Research Guide
Compiled by Ken Middleton, reference/microforms librarian at Middle Tennessee State University Library, this site covers not only web resources, but print and electronic as well. Includes a Subject Index to Research Sources with 72 separate topics of interest in women's history.

Feminist Studies Collection: Women in History
Mounted at the Stanford University Libraries. Includes general links to other megasites, as well as more specific sites organized by time periods and centuries

Women's History
Articles, biographies, discussions, activities and other features in
honor of Women's History Month; sidebar with dozens of other related About Guides. Basic Guide includes information on the foundation of Women's History Month, primary sources, an encyclopedic overview of women's history, quotes by women, and today in women's history. From About.com.

Women's History Month
Compiled by the Gale Group publishers of reference books. This site gives the traditional information such as biographies of famous women, but it links to some fun sites for girls as well.

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Primary Sources

Gifts of Speech: Women's Speeches from around the World
Mounted at Sweet Briar College, this site is "dedicated to preserving and creating access to speeches by influential contemporary women from around the world." Users can read the text of speeches by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Barbara Jordan, Shirley Chisholm, Geraldine Ferraro, Eleanor Roosevelt, Princess Diana, Susan B. Anthony, Mother Teresa, etc.

Internet Women's History Sourcebook
Constructed by historical period from human origins to present each historical section covers great women, women's oppression, and the structure of women's lives. The majority of the links are to primary documents. Mounted at Fordham University.

Primary Documents: American Women's History
Created at Pace University. Organizes primary document links by eras.

Women’s Archives on the WWW
The best thing about this site is the section “On-Line Collections” Interesting documents like the diaries of Gulf War female soldiers, letters from Florence Nightingale, Emma Goldman’s papers, etc. At Duke University.

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Important Places and Events

Early America (1600-1820)

Abigail Adams:Biography
From the Gale Publishing Group site, this is a long biography of the first lady, which describes the lives of the women of her time and outlines her radical ideas for the time about women education and rights.

Women in Early Jamestown
From the Virtual Jamestown site, this essay answers the question "How important were women to the new colony?" Excellent overview of women's lives in very early colonial America.

Nineteenth Century (1820-1880)

Abolitionism
From the Africans in America site sponsored by PBS, this essay gives good information on the role of women in the crusade against slavery.

Civil War Women:Online Archival Exhibit
Presented by Duke University, these are the papers of a Confederate spy, a Union sympathizer and spy, and a schoolgirl in Tennessee. They give vastly different views of the War. Rose Greenhow, the Confederate spy, was from Montgomery County. List of relevant sites is also useful.

Not For Ourselves Alone
To accompany the PBS documentary Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story Of Elizabeth Cady Stanton And Susan B. Anthony by Ken Burns and Paul Barnes. Not just text, but images, video clips, and other multimedia, it is an excellent source to learn about the beginning of the women's rights movement through the lives of these two women. Users also can look here for information on women's status today

Upstate New York and the Women's Rights Movement
Upper New York State was a place of many firsts in the woman's rights movement: the first demand for suffrage, the first society formed for this purpose, first legislative efforts to secure the civil and political rights of women, the first temperance society formed by women, the first medical college opened to them, and woman first ordained for the ministry. Topics include information on the leaders of the Suffragist Movement, the Seneca Falls and Rochester Conventions and the Syracuse Convention. Sponsored by the University of Rochester.

Women of the West
"This Shall Be a Land for Women" is an online exhibit about women's suffrage in the West. The online exhibit "There Are No Renters Here" lets viewers see what it was like to live in a sod house in the West. From the Women of the West exhibit at the Autry National Center.

Women Pioneers-Westward
This website is designed to lead students through the huge Library of Congress' American Memory collection. Gives many links that deal with women as part of the westward movement in the 1800's and in the Great Depression. Not only primary writings but access to songs and recollections.

Women's Labor History
Divided into overview articles and biographies of famous women labor leaders, this is a comprehensive overview from Mother Jones to Dolores Huerta. Maintained by AFSCME.

Women's Suffrage in the United States
An exhaustive timeline with numerous imbedded links. Also many primary documents like Abigail Adams' letter "Remember the Ladies." Mounted at Liz Library.

United States, Women and Social Movements, 1775-2000
This website includes primary documents related to women in U.S. reform movements. It is organized around a question and answer format with each question being answered by 15-20 documents that address the issues involved questions are organized by historical era. Created from student work at SUNY Binghamton, Center for the Historical Study of Women and Gender. Keyword searchable.

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Turn of the Century to the Vote (1880-1920)

Jane Addams Hull House Museum Homepage
This site gives an excellent overview of the Settlement House movement in America. Settlement houses were the base of a powerful reform movement which was concerned with such issues as child labor law, domestic violence, compulsory education, etc. Mounted at the University of Chicago.

Temperance and Prohibition
A general site about this social crusade and the passage of prohibition amendment to the Constitution, there are prominent sections on women's roles. Mounted at Ohio State University.

Temperance and Prohibition
From About.com, this site concentrates on the history of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, Anti-Saloon League, and the Prohibition Party. Discusses this movement as a precursor of the movement for women's suffrage.

Woman Suffrage and the 19th Amendment
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) presents primary sources in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848. Links to related sites on women's suffrage and the 19th Amendment. (Women's History, Multicultural Studies, U.S. History)

Modern America (1921-to date)

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League operated from 1943 to 1954. It represents a unique period in baseball history when women players stepped in for men who were fighting overseas . Pictures and player biographies are an interesting draw for this sight.

Chronology of the Equal Rights Amendment 1923-1996
Very detailed chronology with lots of narrative and imbedded links about the struggle to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. Maintained by the National Organization for Women.

Documents from the Women's Liberation Movement
An on-line archival collection documents various aspects of the Women's Liberation Movement in the United States, and focuses specifically on the radical origins of this movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Explicit in its coverage of reproductive rights.

Equal Rights Amendment
Concentrates primarily on the struggle for women's constitutional equality from 1972-1982, with a short review of the fight for women's suffrage. Site is a project of the National Council of Women's Organizations ERA Task Force.

Flapper Culture and Style
The flapper was a symbol of a revolution in mores and fashion for women in the 1920's. This site describes this cultural revolution and the people involved. From a larger history of the Jazz Age.

Gender Equity in Sports
Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 is the landmark legislation that bans sex discrimination in academics and athletics in schools. This site gives an overview of the Act and the court cases which evolved over women's athletics, which have created the most controversy about Title IX. Maintained at Ohio State University.

Rosie the Riveter: Real Women Workers in World War II
From the Library of Congress, Sheridan Harvey, women’s study Specialist at the Library, discusses the role of women on the homefront. Listen to the talk or read the transcript. Lists of other links.

What did you do in the war, Grandma?
A fascinating look the testimonies of Rhode Island women who lived during World War II, interviewed by students from South Kingstown High School. Women who spent the wartime as WACS, professional baseball players, factory workers, etc. tell in their own words what the War was like. Also included-"Women and World War II," a brief timeline of WWII events, a glossary, and a list of related sites.

WW II WASP History
Authored by the child of a W.A.S.P, this site tells the story of the women who flew in WWII. Excellent narrative from a personal point of view.

Living the Legacy: The Women's Rights Movement
This website outlines the women's rights movement from 1848 to 1998. It includes a history and timeline of the movement and information about today's issues in the women's rights movement. Excellent links to current women's organizations. Sponsored by the National Women's History Project.

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Local

Maryland Women's Hall of Fame Online
Established in 1985 by the Maryland Commission for Women and the Women Legislators of Maryland, the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame seeks to honor Maryland women who have made unique and lasting contributions to the economic, political, cultural, and social life of the state and to provide visible models of achievement for tomorrow's female leaders. Organized by date of election to the hall of fame each name is a link to a biographical sketch and picture.

Montgomery County Women’s History Archives
Mounted on the Montgomery County Commission for Women website, this page celebrates “30 years and 30 women who made a difference” in Montgomery County. Entries include people from all walks of life and many professions such as Clara Barton, to Rachel Carson, and Goldie Hawn.