Research Guides: Women's History Resources in the Special Collections Research Center: Social Movements

Social Movements

Abolitionist Movement

Annual report of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (1837)
Published report (1837) from an abolitionist, interracial organization for women that advocated for the rights of enslaved people, organized a multi-state petition campaign, and sued southerners who brought enslaved individuals into Boston.
Adam Empie Papers (Mss. 65 Em7)
Four undated letters from Sarah M. Grimké to Anna Eliza Empie (Box 1, Folder 8). Sarah Grimké, along with her sister Angelina, was one of the first nationally recognized white American female advocates of abolition and women's rights. In these letters, Sarah Grimké discusses her work at a school for freed African Americans.
An essay on slavery and abolitionism, with reference to the duty of American females (1837)
Catharine Beecher, sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe, wrote this essay in response to the fervor of abolitionist women like Angelina and Sarah Grimké. Beecher does not reject abolitionism but warns that the abolitionists’ strategy of agitation and confrontation would only inflame the South, make the condition of enslaved people worse, and destroy the possibility of ending slavery through persuasion and compromise.
Elizabeth C. Chaplin Diary, 1862 (SC 00779)
Reflects the strong political opinions and abolitionist conviction of a woman from Ipswich, Massachusetts.
Abolitionist Movement Collection (SC 01101)
Letter from Mary S. Stetson to William Lloyd Garrison, 1876. Stetson writes condolences from both herself and her father to "dear friend" and prominent abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison following the death of his wife. Read this letter on the W&M Digital Archive.

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Search the SCRC's Collection Guides database for more manuscript and university archives collections related to women's involvement in the Abolitionist Movement. Some suggested subject headings include:

Women's Suffrage

Prohibition and Suffrage Postcards, circa 1870-1930 (SC 01630)
Collection of over 30 postcards satirizing two social movements of the early twentieth century, women's suffrage and the temperance movement. The postcards depict caricatures of women activists, including a "Suffragette Madonna."

One postcard depicts a reversal of traditional gender roles at home, a common anxiety evoked in this collection.

Gender and Sexuality Ephemera Collection (Mss. 1.08)
Women's Suffrage (U.S.) Ephemera, 1900-1915 (Box 1, Folder 9). Postcards, booklets, broadsides, and other printed material related to the early twentieth century women's suffrage movement. Includes publications from women's organizations both for and against a woman's right to vote.
Julia W. Oxrieder Papers (Mss. Acc. 1990.46)
List of "Williamsburg and James City County Women who Registered to Vote Between September 4 and October 2, 1920 after the Passage of the Nineteenth Amendment" (Box 1, Folder 15). This list identifies Williamsburg area women by occupation, spouse or family member, and political party membership.
School Bond Election Broadside (Williamsburg, Virginia), 1920 (SC 00050)
A broadside publicizing an election to be held on October 19, 1920 regarding a new school to be built on Williamsburg's Palace Green. The broadside explicitly notes that this is the city's first election since the Nineteenth Amendment's ratification.

"This is the first election in which the women of Williamsburg will have the suffrage," this 1920 broadside reads.

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Search the SCRC's Collection Guides database for more manuscript and university archives collections related to women's involvement in the Temperance Movement. Some suggested subject headings include:

Temperance Movement

Robie A. Phiney Letter, 1862 (SC 01631)
Letter from an unidentified sender to her sister, Robie Phiney. The sender discusses a literary club begun by women in her area in which she participates, and she expresses her dismay about Robie wanting to buy wine glasses as she prefers her sister to be a "temperance woman."
Woman's Christian Temperance Union (Ft. Smith, Arkansas) Records, 1882-1960 (Mss. Acc. 2010.780)
Minutes, financial ledgers, correspondence, printed material, and religious ephemera relating to a chapter of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, run from the home of Grace Shipley Collins. Read the chapter's digitized meeting minutes and printed material on the W&M Digital Archive.

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Civil Rights Movement

Violet McDougall Pollard Papers, 1933-1968 (Mss. 74 P76)
Expansive collection documenting the personal and professional life of Pollard, who served as the Democratic Party's National Committeewoman for Virginia from 1940 to 1968. Pollard's files compile notes and reports on civil rights issues and subsequent legislation at the state and national level.
Farrar Family Papers (Mss. Acc. 2008.71)
Leah Farrar Wilson medallions, circa 1935 (Box 1, Folder 3). This collection of personal papers from a family in Richmond, Virginia includes two memorial medallions from the Independent Order of St. Luke (IOSL), a mutual benefit society that focused on improving the financial independence of African Americans during the Jim Crow era. The medallions depict the likeness of Mary Prout, founder of the IOSL, and Maggie L. Walker, founder of the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank.

Medallions (Farrar Family Papers) from Independent Order of Saint Luke, featuring portraits of Maggie L. Walker (left) and Mary Prout (right).

Gertha Sykes Collins Papers, 1942-1944 (Mss. Acc. 2011.487)
Love letters written between Collins and James Dansby, an African American soldier serving in the Army during World War II. Collins writes about life at home in St. Louis, Missouri, and mentions lectures she attends on issues of the Civil Rights Movement, including one given by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Ralph Bunche.
Racial and Ethnic Ephemera Collection (Mss. 1.05)
"I Saw Negro Votes Peddled" article (1950) by Zora Neale Hurston (Box 1, Folder 27). In this article printed by American Legion magazine, Hurston criticizes white elites trying to exploit and abuse the African American vote by offering bribes.
Curtis West Harris and Ruth Jones Harris Papers, 1950-2012 (Mss. Acc. 2014.006)
Personal papers, ephemera, and biographical information about Reverend Curtis West Harris and his wife, Ruth Jones Harris. Much of this collection relates to the couple's involvement with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a prominent American civil rights organization.
We shall overcome! Songs of the Southern freedom movement (1963)
Songbook published in coordination with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Includes profiles of Civil Rights activists, such as Diane Nash.
Unbound (2014)
Conceived and designed by artist Jessica Peterson, this accordion-style book is a tribute to the students of Prince Edward County Public Schools (Virginia) who were left without an education when the county decided to close its schools in 1959 rather than comply with orders to end segregation. Peterson tells this narrative with fold-out timelines, archival evidence, and collected memories.

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Search the SCRC's Collection Guides database for more manuscript and university archives collections related to the Civil Rights Movement. Suggested search keywords include:

"Civil Rights"
"Southern Christian Leadership Conference"
"African Americans" + "segregation"

LGBTQ+ Rights

Dykes for an Amerikan revolution (1971)
This 1970s zine joins classic American iconography with imagery of queer rebellion in mixed media collages photocopied into booklet-form and intended to share.
The life and times of butch dykes (2009)
In this zine series, writer and artist Eloisa Aquino profiles notable queer women, juxtaposing hand-drawn illustrations with quotes relating to identity, pride, and social justice. Subjects include Audre Lorde, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Jenny Shimizu.

Excerpts from Issue 1, Volume 5 of The life and times of butch dykes, highlighting the life and legacy of poet and activist Audre Lorde.

TransCuba (2014)
In this photography book, trans photographer Mariette Pathy Allen presents portraits of Cuban trans women alongside bilingual transcriptions of their personal narratives. The women's stories track the rapidly changing social landscape of Cuba, noting the persistent discrimination against those whose identities fall outside the heteronormative standard, as well as the growing visibility and acceptance for trans individuals.
Lavender Graduation Ceremony Collection, 2018 (UA 143)
Program, ceremony remarks, and a rainbow graduation stole from William & Mary's inaugural Lavender Graduation, a ceremony honoring graduating students who identify along the LGBTQ+ spectrum.
The importance of the QTPOC storyteller (2019)
(La importancia de lxs cuenterxs queer, transgénero y de color) Richmond, Virginia-based artist Peleona created this zine to accompany a discussion at the 2019 Richmond Zine Festival on the power and significance of queer and trans people of color sharing their stories in their own words.

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Search the SCRC's Collection Guides database for more manuscript and university archives collections related to women's involvement in movements for LGBTQ+ rights. Suggested subject headings include:

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Social Movements

Abolitionist Movement

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Women's Suffrage

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Temperance Movement

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Civil Rights Movement

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LGBTQ+ Rights

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