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A diverse range of women's stories can be found throughout the holdings of the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library. Our Women in the Archive guide (available at https://www.nyhistory.org/womens-history/women-in-the-archive) provides some, but not all, of the myriad routes for discovering the history of women in the collection. While these records highlight the breadth of women's history to be found at New-York Historical, they also underscore notable silences. As one of the oldest research libraries in the United States, New-York Historical's collecting practices were until very recently shaped by biases that elevated some women's histories while underrepresenting others. It is our hope that in examining our current holdings and recognizing the gaps in our collections, visitors will be inspired to reflect on how the lives and legacies of all women have shaped the American experience. This digital collection presents some of the holdings relating to women in the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library that have already been digitized. We are continuing to digitize our women's history collections and will be adding more digital content in the future.
Full Title
Women's History Collections
Owning Institution
Subject (Geographic)
Contributor
Digital Format
Digital Origin
digitized other analog
Subcollections
19 subcollections
Abigail Adams, who served as the second First Lady of the United States, was the wife of President John Adams, and the mother of President John Quincy Adams. Correspondence between Abigail Adams and family and friends, including her uncle Cotton Tufts, and her son John Quincy Adams. The letters discuss matters relating to family, illness, personal finances and the running of a household, the U.S. Congress at Philadelphia, and American politics.…
Photographs by Worsinger Photo (or Worsinger Window Service), Nick Malan Studio and Freedman Photo of window and store displays at Oppenheim Collins, Bonwit Teller, and De Pinna; includes World War II images with the motto "Bomb Tokyo"; primarily advertising clothing, also included are advertisements for cosmetics.
The Burr McIntosh Photograph Collection consists of 596 glass plate negatives and 3,822 photographic prints dating from 1898 to 1910. Burr McIntosh (1862-1942) distinguished himself in many careers, including those of actor, reporter, publisher, lecturer, cinematographer, and radio pioneer, as well as photographer. While many of these endeavors were short-lived, they gained him prestige and popularity among the stylish set, including…
Six volumes of recipes, dated 1840-1874, accompanied by twenty-eight loose recipes (most undated), a letter to Eliza Duane from her cousin Kate, and a handwritten song to the tune of "Yankee Doodle." Eliza Duane, and is dated November 28, 1843, another is identified as belonging to Mrs. Mary Wells (undated), and still another was given by S.T. Bagg to Fanny T. Wells, and is dated December 25, 1857; the remaining three volumes most likely…
The collection contains 61 glass negatives of buildings, parks, events and portraits in New York City and state. Also included are three albumen prints of the steamboat Harlem and an unidentified residence. The collection was donated by Elizabeth Ransom to the New-York Historical Society, but other than her name, nothing else is known about her or her connection to the negatives. The photographer is unidentified.
The Eugene Gordon Photograph Collection contains black and white gelatin silver prints of street life, religious groups, buildings, and public events of New York City. The photographs show New Yorkers going about their lives in a vibrant city. Gordons attention to detail, and to the changing face of the citys population and streetscape, is evident in images showing ethnic neighborhoods in Queens. The largest groupings of photographs are of Times…
The Jessie Tarbox Beals Collection contains 420 black and white photographs, circa 1900-1940, primarily of New York City and its inhabitants. It also includes postcards, as well as larger prints, of bohemian Greenwich Village between 1905 and 1920. Jessie Tarbox Beals (1870-1942), a school teacher who taught herself photography, joined the Buffalo Courier staff in 1902 and became known as the first woman press photographer. She moved to New York…
Joseph Reed (1741-1785) was a lawyer, Revolutionary War soldier, and statesman born in Trenton, New Jersey. His wife, Esther De Berdt (1747-1780), organized aid for the Continental Army during the Revolution and was born in London, England. The collection consists of letters and documents that pertain to such matters as colonial politics; trade between England and America; De Berdt family affairs; Joseph's pre-Revolution law practice; relations…
The records of the Ladies' Christian Union include annual reports, minutes, financial and real estate records, correspondence, photographs, biographical writings, membership lists, ephemera, printed brochures, articles, and manuals. The Ladies Christian Union was founded in New York City in 1858 with the aim of creating and maintaining safe, affordable housing for young, unmarried Christian women employed in the New York area. Between the…
Typescript of over 1,400 pages with approximately 650 accompanying illustrations written and compiled by Marion Mahony Griffin (1871–1961), architect, designer, delineator and artist, with her husband Walter Burley Griffin (1876–1937), architect, landscape designer and city planner. Their architectural practice spanned almost four decades on three continents. The Magic of America: Electronic Edition collates in a digital format all…
Papers, 1774-1868, mainly consisting of correspondence and legal documents relating to Martha Bradstreet's attempts to regain title to land in Utica (N.Y.), which was originally part of the property of General John Bradstreet, the stepfather of Bradstreet's father, Samuel. Title to the land became confused by a poorly drafted deed of sale to Peter Schuyler in 1793, and Martha Bradstreet's claim to the land was further complicated by the terms of…
Fabric samples sent and received by Mary Alexander, a successful New York businesswoman who specialized in "haberdashery " what would today be called notions. She ordered plain as well as luxurious fabrics and sold them at her store on Broad Street in Manhattan. Mary Alexander was born in New York in 1693 and married Samuel Prevoost, an importer, with whom she ran a mercantile business. After Prevoost died around 1720 she married James…
These records cover the latter portion of the African Free-Schools' existence, ending two years before oversight for the schools was transferred to the Public School Society. They relate to classroom observation, student performance, behavior and promotions, as well as examples of lessons and student work. The records are in four volumes. The first includes regulations, by-laws, and reports, from 1817 to 1832. The regulations are for the format…
New-York Society for Promoting the Manumission of Slaves (1785-1849), commonly known as the New-York Manumission Society, was established to publicly promote the abolition of slavery and manumission of enslaved people in New York State. While this was the publicly stated goal, numerous members still enslaved people in their own households, including John Jay and Rufus King. The society provided legal and financial assistance to manumitted…
Sarah R. Blunt (born in 1830 or 1831) was a Union nurse during the Civil War. Leaving her home and family in Brooklyn's third ward, Blunt aided soldiers at Point Lookout, Maryland, and Harper's Ferry, Virginia. This collection includes Sarah R. Blunt's letters to her mother, father, sisters, and cousin in Brooklyn, New York, written from hospitals in Point Lookout, Maryland and Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (March 4, 1862-July 24, 1865:). She…
247 birth certificates for children born to enslaved women in New York City from 1800 to 1818. The certificates usually include information such as the enslaver's occupation, the mother's name, and the date of birth and sex of the child.
Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) was a key figure in the women's suffrage and abolitionist movements in the United States. Five of the letters concern speeches by Frederick Douglass, Theodore Tilton, Julia Ward Howe, and Mary L. Booth, as well as Anthony's own speaking engagements. Recipients include Theodore Tilton and Mary L. Booth. One letter is about remaking a dress. One letter is undated but is probably written by Anthony around November 1895…
This collection on women in sports history, including items from the Billie Jean King collection, was created for Education audiences at the New-York Historical Society.
