Discussion

Discussion 5

This course is an introduction to taking a Women's Studies approach to U.S. history. There are A LOT of important events, figures, and issues that are mentioned only briefly or even left out. Some of the selections included in the course (and the whole textbook) have been made by trying to include different types of historical and cultural artifacts; other choices have been made by trying to think about what best represents a certain period or particular event. (These are normal, practical parameters any course faces.)

The modules and course materials include etchings, photographs, paintings, poems, stories, memoirs, letters, trial transcripts, as well as print advertisements and illustrations. I hope you are appreciating the range of cultural material Women's Studies may draw from to help understand and analyze a given historical moment.

Yet I also want to signal  how much  more material is out there  - and to recognize that what interests you most may not have received as much attention so far.

Below are links to a variety of Women's Studies archives and databases. Spend a bit of time with one or more of the resources - you may browse freely on these databases or guide yourself on a focused search for artifacts from a particular area of interest. There is a lot here and that's an understatement.

You can start with the main Library of Congress site and have more than enough to complete this discussion forum, so if you begin to feel overwhelmed know it is acceptable to stick with that first link and you'll have good success. I have linked to several other well-known collections that might feature artifacts of interest related to common women's history and gender and women's studies topics in case you are motivated to explore more broadly.

Do not revert to a basic Google search -  use these official archives .

Library of Congress, Women's History Collections - includes many online exhibits:  https://www.loc.gov/collections/?fa=subject:women%27s+historyLinks to an external site.

Also at the Library of Congress - archives of the National Woman's Party protest photographs:  https://www.loc.gov/collections/women-of-protest/about-this-collection/Links to an external site.

Sophia Smith Special Collections at Smith College library (first college for women in U.S.):  https://libraries.smith.edu/node/43293Links to an external site.

Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History & Culture - part of the Special Collections Library at Duke University, includes primary source materials from the Women's Liberation Movement, African-American Women, and Civil War Women   https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/binghamLinks to an external site.

Women Working (1870-1930), special collection project from Harvard University Library :  https://library.harvard.edu/collections/women-working-1800-1930Links to an external site.

University of Virginia Salem Witch Trials archive:  http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/home.htmlLinks to an external site.

African American Women Writers of the 19th century - digital collection maintained by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library:   https://libguides.nypl.org/african-american-women-writers-of-the-19th-CenturyLinks to an external site.

Digital Transgender Archives - based at Northeastern University in Boston yet compiled with collaborators in the United Kingdom and across the United States:  https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/Links to an external site.

Lesbian Herstory Archives - a project hosted by a nonprofit organization based in Brooklyn, NY, includes numerous oral histories:   http://herstories.prattinfoschool.nyc/omeka/Links to an external site.

Select one primary source from any of these archives that we have not covered so far in the course modules to share with the class.

Download a copy of the primary source (or screen shot it if that is not possible) and post an image of the source in your response to the prompt  (you may need to convert it or save it as a JPG to use the image uploading tool like we did in Discussion 3 with your presentations). Please, please do not just link to the archive or database (although you can do that, too, especially if there is good information at the site to read further), but it's  so much better to post a visual of what you found, both for the readability of the discussion thread and so it is easier for us to compare and make connections between all your great source finds instead of clicking back and forth.

Above or below your image of the primary source you selected from one of the archives, in 250 words or more explain what is historically or culturally significant about this artifact, and what it helps us potentially understand about women and gender in society.

You also may share some of your research process with your peers, such as your reasons for why you selected this particular primary source to add to our learning. How did you make your decision? Were you aware of certain criteria or cultural values that influenced your selection?

Then reply to at least two other classmates and the primary source artifacts they found. Take the time to fully consider their selections, as well as how collectively our different selections might create a very different impression of women in history to someone less informed.

By the time this discussion forum is finished, we will have a whole additional chapter of women's history artifacts - all that have been left out of what is already a very good textbook.

Doing this activity not only expands our learning, it helps make real the activity of actually doing women's studies.