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    Women's History Resource Guide

    Introduction

    Throughout American history, the intersectionality of gender, class, and race has constructed women's lived experiences. This resource guide highlights the Pennsylvania State Archives' holdings pertaining to women's unique experiences throughout the state's rich history. The guide was created with the hopes of making women's history resources readily accessible to researchers at the Pennsylvania State Archives.

    Items for the guide were carefully selected from the holdings of the Archives in order to create an inclusive representation of women's experiences throughout both Pennsylvania and United States History. Such items include government produced record groups, manuscript groups, and photographs housed at the Archives. Moreover, holdings pertaining to women or various ethnic, racial, and class backgrounds were included in order to create a more inclusive history. However, not all items produced by or pertaining to women were included in this guide. As such, researchers may need to consult other finding aids and resource guides at the Pennsylvania State Archives in order to further their research.

    The guide is organized according to record group (RG) or manuscript group (MG) number. Record groups are further arranged according to series number. As manuscript groups do not include series numbers, key items pertaining to women's history are listed. Researchers are encouraged to consult finding aids found in the research room for further information on the holdings of manuscript groups.

    Furthermore, three indexes are included with the women's history resource guide. The first is a general index in the front of the guide. This index lists every record group, series number, and manuscript group throughout the guide. At the end of the guide, record group and manuscript group indexes are included. These indexes are organized alphabetically by subject. Subjects were chosen based on common themes found amongst the holdings. Lastly, a brief bibliography of U.S. and Pennsylvanian women's history sources are included to help patrons further their research.

    Should researchers have any further questions, please consult an archivist at the PA State Archives.

    Caroline E. Radesky, August 2008

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