Portrait of Mary McIntosh Hague Sanford by photographer Martha Clizbe (1864-1906), Reedsburg, Wisconsin, not before 1879. Catalog record
Researchers can find a variety of primary and secondary sources documenting representations and lived experiences of American women through approximately 1900 in North America. The following research guide is intended to serve as a starting point for your research.
Finding Primary Sources
The General Catalog uses local (i.e., just used at AAS) genre/form terms to make findable hundreds of works produced by women through approximately 1900. Researchers can use the following terms:
- Works by women authors
- Works by women composers
- Works by women illustrators
- Works by women in the printing and publishing trades
- Works by women newspaper editors
- Works by women periodical editors
- Works by women photographers
Newspapers and periodicals published by or specifically for women through approximately 1900 can be found using the genre terms:
The General Catalog uses Library of Congress subject headings including:
If you don't find what you are looking for please email our staff at reference [at] mwa.org (reference[at]mwa[dot]org).
Digital Collections and Projects
The following AAS digital collections are freely available from anywhere.
- Abigail Adams Letters
- Abigail Kelley Foster Papers
- Beauty, Virtue and Vice: Images of Women in 19c American Prints
- Mill Girls in Nineteenth-Century Print
- Women and the World of Dime Novels
The following project websites are freely available from anywhere.
The following digital collections are available to researchers who are present at AAS and signed on to AAS networks. Publishers provide separate tools for searching their collections. Some feature materials not held at AAS.
- Women's Studies Archive (Gale)
- Manuscript Women's Letters and Diaries (ASP)
- America's Historical Newspapers (Readex)
- Gale Primary Sources
Includes all Gale products available at AAS - Readex AllSearch
Includes all Readex products available at AAS
Recorded Programs
Watch past programs women's studies focused programs. Additionally, Women Make History is a themed lecture series of public programs featuring presentations by women authors who address topics about women in American history and culture. Most of these programs resulted from research completed in the AAS collection.
Fellowship Opportunities
The American Antiquarian Society awards over forty fellowships annually. Fellowships are offered for postdoctoral academics, advanced graduate students, independent scholars, as well as for creative and performing artists and writers.