Women's studies
Scope of collection
Women's studies covers the changing role of women in Australian society with a particular emphasis on women born or living in New South Wales. It encompasses the diverse roles of women in family life, the impact of feminism, women's suffrage, and issues related to cultural background, status, education and work. It includes women's contributions to the community through volunteer work and the arts, sciences and business.
Collecting aims and intentions
The Library's resources relating to women encompass aspects of the history of indigenous, colonial, rural, urban and migrant women, with particular emphasis on women born or living in New South Wales, including contributions in the domestic, business, sporting, literary, social, political, legal and economic fields.
The State Library aims to collect historic and current material on all aspects of women's experience. Material relating to Aboriginal women is comprehensively collected as part of the Library's collection policy on Aborigines. Material concerning women's causes such as the fight for electoral representation, voting rights, social welfare services and equal pay, particularly in the context of the progress of NSW legislation, is comprehensively collected, as are the papers of feminist and lesbian organisations and various other women's lobby groups for reform. Material about female workers such as writers, athletes, lawyers, farmers, entrepreneurs and so on is collected, including material related to women who work in traditionally male-dominated fields, such as politics and science. The day-to-day domestic and family life of women is also comprehensively documented in the collection through diaries and other original materials. Further, anything which contributes to an understanding of the forging of a uniquely Australian female identity is collected, particularly from early NSW, when the colony was regarded as harsh and masculine, and a very limited role for women was envisaged by the dominant patriarchy.
Current and retrospective published and original materials relating to women are acquired extensively over a range of formats.
Electronic information is available through the provision of access to the Internet and selected indexes and databases. Internet sites relating to women's issues are reviewed and appropriate sites bookmarked. Relevant electronic publications and sites on the Internet are archived and catalogued.
Existing collection
- Published materials including magazines and journals relating to women
- Personal correspondence, papers and diaries
- Portraits, biographies, pictures and photography of women
- Associations' papers
- Posters
- Ephemera
- Oral history tapes
- Realia, personal belongings of women
Some examples of unique or significant items
- Diverse range of Sydney women's magazines including Australian Woman's Mirror, Australian Women's Weekly, The Dawn: a journal for Australian women, Lesbians on the loose (LOTL), The National journal of the Movement for the Ordination of Women, The newsletter of the Society of Women Writers N.S.W. Inc, WEL-informed by the N.S.W. Women's Electoral Lobby, Wicked Women and Femail
- Diaries and letters of pioneer women settlers such as Rachel Henning Mitchell Library: MLMSS 342, Emile Caroline Creaghe and Annie Maria Dawbin.
Mitchell Library: DLMSQ 181-DLMSQ 183 - Papers of convicts including letters of Margaret Catchpole and diary and letters of Mary Reibey.
Mitchell Library: MLMSS 2132, MLMSS 4200, MLMSS 4534, MLMSS 5512 - Papers of Olympic swimmers Mina Wylie and Shane Gould
- Papers of writers including Ethel Turner (MLMSS 667, MLMSS 2159, MLMSS 4523), Miles Franklin (MLMSS 445), Dame Mary Gilmore (MLMSS 123), P.L. Travers and Gillian Mears (MLMSS 6217, MLMSS 6217 ADD-ON 2086, MLMSS 6217 ADD-ON 2104 MLMSS)
- Papers of indigenous writers Ruby Langford Ginibi, Mitchell Library: MLMSS 1615, MLMSS & MLMSS and Faith Bandler, Mitchell Library: MLMSS 6243, MLMSS 6243 ADD-ON 2196, MLMSS 6243 & MLMSS 6243 ADD-ON 2196
- Papers of dancer Margaret Barr, dancer and choreographer Beth Dean and composers Peggy Glanville-Hicks and Mirrie Hill
- Papers of artists including sculptor Margel Hinder, botanical artists Harriet and Helena Scott (including pictorial collection, pictorial and manuscript collection & botanical drawings) and children's author and illustrator May Gibbs
- Papers of feminists including Rose Scott (journal 1889-1893 & papers ca.1790-1924) and Dale Spender
- Papers of activist Helen Caldicott
- Papers of politicians including Clover Moore (papers 1982-1989, further papers 1984-1992 & further papers 1976-1994) and Franca Arena
- Women & work photographic series by Anya van Lit
- Women's Abortion Action Campaign records, 1972-1998
- Women's Redress Press records, 1976-1996
- Range of posters on women's issues including the Earthworks Poster Collective collection, 1977-1989
- Taped interviews with women discussing their careers, family life and achievements - including Jean Arnot, Kathleen Lehaney, Ruth Park, Ruby Langford Ginibi and Margel Hinder.
- Ephemera (leaflets, brochures) on women's issues:
- Ephemera on Women: including material on feminism, women's liberation, international women's day celebrations, equal employment opportunity, violence against women and exploitation, women's rights to child care and abortion, conferences, festivals and concerts, 1900-1999 (EPHEMERA/WOMEN/PRE 1990 and EPHEMERA/WOMEN/1990-1999)
- A collection of publications on the Women's Liberation Movement, assembled by the Leichhardt Women's Community Health Centre, 1973-1978.
Mitchell Library: Q396.0991/1 - Circulars, leaflets, etc., Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales, 1897-
Mitchell Library: Q324.3/1 - Leaflets, Women's Reform League
Mitchell Library: 329.21/W - Pamphlets, articles etc. from various sources on women's suffrage collected by R. Scott
Mitchell Library: 396.3/S - Woman suffrage; a collection of leaflets, newspaper cuttings and ms notes, J. F. Fischer
Mitchell Library: 324.3/F
- Newspaper cuttings:
- Caspersz, Evelyn M., Collection of newspaper cuttings of articles, many of the articles collected in these scrapbooks are about famous women, and most of them were published in the Woman's Budget [magazine]
Mitchell Library: Q070.445/1-4 - Commins, K., Australian women's cricket tour of England and Holland, 1937, scrapbook
Mitchell Library: F796.358/2
- Caspersz, Evelyn M., Collection of newspaper cuttings of articles, many of the articles collected in these scrapbooks are about famous women, and most of them were published in the Woman's Budget [magazine]
- Exhibition of women's industries and centenary fair, 1888
Mitchell Library: Pam file 606/E, Q606/E - Emily's List is a political network formed to increase the number of women Labor parliamentarians who are willing to support the crucial issues of cildcare, equal pay, and pro choice.
