LibGuides: WMST 3525: Women's, Gender, &amp; Sexuality Studies Senior Seminar: Data/Primary Sources

Primary Sources

Primary sources are those created contemporaneously to whatever period a researcher is studying. They reflect events as they unfolded (for example, a newspaper article, from the time of a particular historical event). Primary sources reveal how certain topics and ideas were understood during a specific time and place. The particular primary sources you might use in your research, as well as how you find them, can vary a lot based on your field of study.

Examples of Primary Sources (explore the other tabs for more info):

Photographs
Newspapers
Government records
Artifacts
Pamphlets and other ephemeral material
Memoirs and autobiographies

Archives of sexuality and gender
The Archives of Sexuality and Gender program provides a robust and significant collection of primary sources for the historical study of sex, sexuality, and gender. With material dating back to the sixteenth century, researchers and scholars can examine how sexual norms have changed over time, health and hygiene, the development of sex education, the rise of sexology, changing gender roles, social movements and activism, erotica, and many other interesting topical areas. This growing archival program offers rich research opportunities across a wide span of human history. The Archives of Sexuality and Gender program consists of four archives: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940, Part I; LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940, Part II; Sex and Sexuality, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century; and International Perspectives on LGBTQ Activism and Culture.
Defining gender, 1450-1910
Ephemera, pamphlets, college records and exam papers, commonplace books, diaries, periodicals, letters, ledgers, account books, educational practice and pedagogy, government papers from the Home Office and Metropolitan police, illustrated writings on anatomy, midwifery, art and fashion, manuscript journals, poetry, novels, ballads, drama, receipt books, literary manuscripts, travel writing, and conduct and advice literature.
Women's Studies Archive
As the first in the Women's Studies archive, this collection traces the path of women's issues from past to present--pulling primary sources from manuscripts, newspapers, periodicals, and more. It captures the foundation of women's movements, struggles and triumphs, and provides researchers with valuable insights. As a comprehensive academic-level archival resource, Women's Studies Archive: Women's Issues and Identities will focus on the social, political, and professional achievements of women throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century. Along with providing a closer look at some of the pioneers of women's movements, this collection offers scholars a deep dive into the issues that have affected women and the many contributions they have made to society
Archives of Human Sexuality and Identity
The archive illuminates the experiences not just of the LGBTQ community as a whole, but of individuals of different races, ethnicities, ages, religions, political orientations, and geographical locations that constitute this community. Historical records of political and social organizations founded by LGBTQ individuals are featured, as well as publications by and for lesbians and gays, and extensive coverage of governmental responses to the AIDS crisis. The archive also contains personal correspondence and interviews with numerous LGBTQ individuals, among others. The archive includes gay and lesbian newspapers from more than 35 countries, reports, policy statements, and other documents related to gay rights and health, including the worldwide impact of AIDS, materials tracing LGBTQ activism in Britain from 1950 through 1980, and more. In addition, the archive encompasses extensive material related to feminism, women's rights, and women's concerns. Documents span from 1940 to 2014, with the bulk from 1950 to 1990.
Women's Studies Archive
As the first in the Women's Studies archive, this collection traces the path of women's issues from past to present--pulling primary sources from manuscripts, newspapers, periodicals, and more. It captures the foundation of women's movements, struggles and triumphs, and provides researchers with valuable insights. As a comprehensive academic-level archival resource, Women's Studies Archive: Women's Issues and Identities will focus on the social, political, and professional achievements of women throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century. Along with providing a closer look at some of the pioneers of women's movements, this collection offers scholars a deep dive into the issues that have affected women and the many contributions they have made to society
Women and Social Movements, International: 1840 to Present
Online archive of published and manuscript primary sources focusing on women's international activism since the mid-nineteenth century. The archive includes proceedings of women's international conferences, books, pamphlets, articles from newspapers and journals, as well as correspondence, diary entries, and memoirs. Also contains numerous online publications of contemporary Non-Governmental Organizations.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries
North American Women's Letters and Diaries (NAWLD) includes the immediate experiences of 107 women, as revealed in more than 9,000 pages of iaries and letters. Particular care has been taken to index this material so that it can be searched more thoroughly than ever before. When complete, the collection will include more than 150,000 pages of primary material spanning more than 300 years.
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories provides a unique and personal view of what it meant to immigrate to America and Canada between 1800 and 1950. Composed of contemporaneous letters and diaries, oral histories, interviews, and other personal narratives, the series provides a rich source for scholars in a wide range of disciplines. In selected cases, users will be able to hear the actual audio voices of the immigrants.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Full-text and full-image articles from major American newspapers: Atlanta Constitution, Baltimore Sun (1837-1985), Boston Globe, Call and Post (1934-1991), Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor (1908-1997), Irish Times (1859-2009), Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Norfolk Journal and Guide (1921-2003), Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001), San Francisco Chronicle (1865-1922), Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Scotsman (1817-1950). Every page in PDF files.
Gale Primary Sources
Provides an interactive research environment that allows researchers to cross-search multiple Gale collections, including Archives Unbound, Archives of Sexuality & Gender, Associated Press Collections Online, Brazilian and Portuguese History and Culture, British Library Newspapers, the Indigenous Peoples: North America database, Nineteenth Century Collections Online, The Making of Modern Law, U.S. Declassified Documents Online, U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, 1832-1978, and the Women's Studies Archive.
Accessible Archives
Searchable collection of U.S. history resources, including the Pennsylvania Gazette, the Civil War coverage of three newspapers, Godey's Lady's Book, a group of African-American and abolitionist newspapers, and selections from several 19th century Delaware Valley newspapers.
Archives Unbound
Archives Unbound presents topically-focused digital collections of historical documents that support the research and study needs of scholars and students at the college and university level. Collections in Archives Unbound cover a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to twentieth-century political history.
Public Health Archives : Public Health in Modern America, 1890-1970
documents the rise of the twentieth-century public health system in the United States through correspondence, reports, pamphlets, ephemera, and more. For scholars in the fields of American history, American studies, history of science and medicine, public health studies, sociology, political science, psychology, and economics, it documents through primary sources that record the evolution and impact of public health legislation, policies, and campaigns at the local, national, and federal levels, opening for researchers a new window on the roles played by key organizations and individuals to advance public health practices and outcomes.
Proquest History Vault

Provides access to primary source, cross-searchable, full-text, full-image documents on widely studied topics in 19th and 20th-century American history. Content is applicable to research in history, African American studies, women's studies, political science, social sciences, sociology, and international studies.

Barnard Archives

As a repository of records of the life of Barnard College and broader feminist histories, we provide a space for critical, interdisciplinary inquiry into the past as well as the imagination of possible futures.
Interference Archive

The mission of Interference Archive is to explore the relationship between cultural production and social movements
Lesbian Herstory Archives

The Lesbian Herstory Archives exists to gather, preserve and provide access to records of Lesbian lives and activities. Doing this also serves to uncover and document our herstory previously denied to us by patriarchal historians in the interests of the culture that they served.
New York City Municipal Archives

Acquired from city agencies, the Archives hold the records depicting the daily work of city government, including paper records, digital collections, web archives, still and moving images, ledgers and docket books, vital records, cartographic materials, blueprints, and sound recordings.
New York Public Library - Archives and Manuscripts

NYPL's archival collections include those at its 3 Research Libraries: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Papers of Lou Reed, James Baldwin, Robert Moses, and so much more.
NYU Archives - Fales Library and Special Collections Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives

Tamiment has a focus on left politics and labor history. The collection holds rich collections of books, serials, pamphlets, archives, photographs, oral histories, and more. The Fales collection includes, The Riot Grrl Collection and the Downtown Collection documenting art, performance, film, and literary landscape from 1975 to the present.

Data is the collected values or facts that may be interpreted and allow insight into a particular topic. Data can be qualitative or quantitative but ultimately it's purpose is to explain or explore ideas and issues. For that reason, data can be extremely valuable to a wide range of people and entities. If you want to dig into a phenomenon, you want data. Data can be analyzed and interpreted using data analysis to answer “why” or “how” and further our knowledge.

Barnard's Empirical Reasoning Center provides help formulating empirical questions, finding appropriate data sets, and guidance and training with analysis software. And check Barnard's Social Science Librarian's Guide to Social Science Data/!

Data.gov

Data, tools, and resources to conduct research, develop web and mobile applications, design data visualizations, and more..
Gender Data Portal

The World Bank's Gender Data Portal makes the latest gender statistics accessible through compelling narratives and data visualizations to improve the understanding of gender data

PolicyMap
Online data and mapping tool for creating custom reports of data related to demographics, real estate, health, jobs, the environment, education and more. Data comes from authoritative public and proprietary sources. It has thousands of indicators on demographics, the economy, housing, lending, quality of life, education, health, and more. Data is available at the neighborhood census block group in many cases, up to a national level, depending on the data.
ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States
The Statistical Abstract of the United States is an authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic conditions of the United States. Once provided free from the U.S. Census Bureau, now provided by ProQuest.
ProQuest Statistical Insight
Provides statistical data from U.S. government publications from 1973, state and private sources from 1980, and international organizations from 1983.

WMST 3525: Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Senior Seminar

ArchiveGrid

Liam Adler, Librarian for History and Cultural Studies

Primary Sources

Examples of Primary Sources (explore the other tabs for more info):