Women's History Resources in the Special Collections Research Center

From the Tucker-Coleman Papers, this extensive cookbook compiles personal recipes written in several hands, magazine clippings, grocery lists, and advertisements and other ephemera. View the digitized cookbook on the W&M Digital Archive.

Lee's diary, titled "A History of Our Captivity," chronicles the Union's occupation of her hometown, Winchester, Virginia. Read Lee's digitized diary on the W&M Digital Archive.

From a collection of books stored in the basement of the Wren Building for many years, this volume includes notes on nineteenth-century Virginia legislation and the equitable separate estates of married women.

Diary (1902) of Florence Barber, the granddaughter of Solomon Northup. Brief daily entries describe the weather at home in Norfolk, Virginia, household chores, church activities, and a trip to Atlanta. Read Barber's digitized diary on the W&M Digital Archive.

Diary of Myrtle Weaver Alwine, a young woman who works as a maid in the home of a wealthy family in Ontario, California. Weaver later moves back to her hometown of Greeley, Colorado to get married and make a home of her own. Read Alwine's digitized diary on the W&M Digital Archive.

Writing in 1945, Barnhouse describes her family's 1895 move from Kansas to Flathead Valley, Montana as part of a larger wagon train. Read Barnhouse's digitized diary on the W&M Digital Archive.

Two diaries from an unidentified mother and daughter, both of whom were textile workers. Included amongst descriptions of family news and household chores are references to working in a mill and making socks.

From the Frances G. Hoppin Papers, these journals recount Hoppin's experiences opening the Red Cross Grenelle Dispensary in Paris, France in 1917. The Grenelle Dispensary was one of about 30 civilian dispensaries administered by the Red Cross in Paris at the time. Read the digitized journals on the W&M Digital Archive.

The 1920s marked a notable increase in women in the workforce. This 1924 guide directs women in how to dress and act in a male-dominated office environment.

Anchored by local landmarks, such as Virgie Williams’ Triangle Restaurant and Charles Edward Gary, Jr.’s West End Valet Shop, the Triangle Block, just beyond the edge of W&M's campus, once served as an important nexus of Black-owned businesses in Williamsburg. The papers of QuoVadis Wright, daughter of Virgie Williams, document the Triangle Block's history, community, and connection through photographs, sketches, and handwritten recollections.

Personal papers and diary of Lynne O'Neill, a burlesque dance from Virginia. O'Neill's diary appears to be the start of a memoir she was drafting. View her papers and diary on the W&M Digital Archive.

Hines, a W&M alumna, recounts her parents' involvement as civil rights activists. Her mother worked as field secretary for the NAACP, involved in voter registration, overturning the poll tax, and education reform. Hines also discusses her own extensive work in education, which includes serving on the W&M School of Education Development Board.