Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America

The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America is a research library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University. According to Nancy F. Cott, the Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation Director, it is "the largest and most significant repository of documents covering women's lives and activities in the United States." The library is named after Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr., a noted history professor at Harvard during the 20th century; and his wife Elizabeth Bancroft Schlesinger, a noted feminist. The library was begun on August 26, 1943, when the Radcliffe College alumna Maud Wood Park '98, a former suffragist, donated her collection of books, papers, and memorabilia on female reformers to Radcliffe. This grew into a research library called the "Women's Archives", which was renamed in 1965 after Elizabeth Bancroft Schlesinger and her husband Arthur M. Schlesinger, as they were strong supporters of the library's mission.

The Schlesinger Library exists to document women's lives and endeavors. Its wealth of resources reveals the wide range of women's activities at home in the United States and abroad from the early 19th century to the present day. The library’s holdings include manuscripts; books and periodicals; and photographic and audiovisual material.

There are more than 2,500 unique manuscript collections from individuals, families, and organizations. Women's rights movements past and present, feminism, health and sexuality, social reform, and the education of women and girls are core manuscript holdings. Ordinary lives of women and families and the struggles and triumphs of women of accomplishment are richly documented in diaries and other personal records. Many collections, such as the papers of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Pauli Murray, and the records of the National Organization for Women, feature political, organizational, and economic questions. In 1972 the National Organization for Women chose the Schlesinger Library as the archives for its records; the collection has grown to be one of its largest (300 linear feet of manuscripts and growing as of 2013) and one of its most heavily used by researchers.

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