John D. Vairo Library   Brandywine

HIST 497 - Fall 2009 - Women and Gender in 20th Century America

Assignment: Write an original research paper (12-15 pages) drawing from primary and secondary sources on one of four topics: Gender, Identity, and Sexuality; Gender and Sport; Gender and Violence; Gender and Work. Analyze at least six primary sources (newspapers from  a variety of ethnic, geographic, and ideological perspectives, magazines, archival materials, etc.) and three secondary sources, including two book other than those assigned.

Topic Overview - Background Information

Encyclopedia of American Studies: provides interdisciplinary coverage of the American experience, from pre-colonial days to the present.

 Gale Virtual Reference Library: includes full-text encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources in a wide variety of subject fields.

The CAT:  the online catalog of resources in the Penn State Libraries. Limit your search by resource material type, search all Penn State libraries or a single location, and electronically request resources that are not at the Brandywine Campus (Use the I WANT IT button).

Journals and Newspaper Articles

America: History & Life: includes scholarly articles on all aspects of the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.

Ethnic NewsWatch: a full text database of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press, with archival material back to 1985.

ProQuest (Multiple Databases):  ProQuest includes full-text of peer-reviewed journals, magazines, trade publications, and newspapers in fields ranging from the arts and humanities to science and technology.

More Research Guides - Women's Studies

Research Guides to Women's Studies: An array of research guides recommend databases and specialized resources on a wide range of historical and contemporary women's issues.

• Review your database search results, and click on  to find direct links from a database citation to the article full-text online (when available).

• ILLiad:  When GET IT! cannot link you to an article online, click on ILLiad in the GET  IT!  window to request a free PDF copy.
  
• You will be notified by email when your pdf copy is available for download from the ILLiad web site.

PRIMARY SOURCES are original records created at the time historical events occurred or well after events in the form of memoirs and oral histories. Primary sources may include letters, manuscripts, diaries, journals, newspapers, speeches, interviews, memoirs, documents, photographs, audio recordings, moving pictures or video recordings, research data, and objects or artifacts. These sources serve as the raw material to interpret the past... [American Library Association - RUSA]

Women and Social Movements: includes books, images, audiofiles, documents, scholarly essays, commentaries, and bibliographies on women's social movements from colonial times to the present.

Women's History Online, 1543-1945 (Gerritsen Collection):  full text books, pamphlets and periodicals reflecting the evolution of feminist consciousness and the movement for women's rights through 1945.

North American Women's Letters and Diaries: North American Women's Letters and Diaries includes approximately 100,000 pages of published letters and diaries from individuals writing from Colonial times to 1950 plus 4,000 pages of previously unpublished materials.

New York Times Historical (1851-2006) (Digital Archive): includes a digitized image of every backfile issue of The New York Times from cover to cover, including news stories, editorials, photos, graphics, and advertisements.

America's Historical Newspapers (1690-1922): the images and full-text content from scores of historical American newspapers.

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: search and view newspaper pages from 1880-1922. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program.

Selected Newspapers & Journals on Microfilm at Penn State

• To learn more about these periodicals, search Gale Virtual Reference Library for background information.

• To browse selected years on microfilm, searchThe CAT. 

• Click on Begins With (Browse) Search in the "Other Searches" box on the CAT "Quick Search" page.
• Enter the periodical name, search ALL libraries, and click on JOURNAL TITLE.
• Click on DETAILS for the record of the periodical of interest.
• Click on I WANT IT, select the volumes/years you would like to borrow, choose Brandywine as your pick-up library, and click on Place Hold.

Have Questions? 

Stop by the Vairo Library reference or circulation desk or use the Get Help

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