Research Guides: HIST 324: History of Women in the United States: Home

Biographical Encyclopedias and Directories

Feminists Who Changed America, 1963-1975
This ebook is the first comprehensive directory to document many of the founders and leaders (including both well-known and grassroots organizers) of the second wave women's movement. Recommended by Prof. Wagman.

Notable American Women, Vol. 5: Completing the Twentieth Century
This is a collection of biographies of American women from the second half of the twentieth century. Use the scrolling window on the right-hand side of the screen to look for your subject by last name. You can also use the print edition, which is on the reference shelves (1st floor) at call number CT 3260 .N892.
Marquis Who's Who on the Web
Notre Dame's libraries have access to this collection of Who's Who entries since 1985. To use the resource, go to the Hesburgh Library and use one of the Research Workstations on the first floor. Ask a librarian there for help if you need it! Or, if you're enrolled in a class at ND, your ND login will let you access it online from anywhere.

1977 International Women's Year (IWY) Oral History Collection
This site contains oral histories recorded during the Convention in 1977. Look for your subject under the "National Interviews" heading.
Sharing Stories from 1977 Oral Interviews
These interviews were conducted in 2017, at a conference honoring the 40th anniversary of the NWC. There are fewer interviews here, but your subject might be among them.
Veteran Feminists of America
The Pioneer Histories Project collects oral histories from Second Wave feminists.
ArchiveGrid
A national collection of archives across the country; you can search for your subject's name and see if they have materials in an archive anywhere in the country. Start with the two links above before searching here.

newspapers.com This link opens in a new window
4,802 newspapers from the 1700s to the 2000s from around the world. Search for your subject's name, and if you find too many results, try limiting your search just to newspapers from Indiana. Ask a librarian for help if you need it!
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Contains many newspapers from around the country, but can be tricky to use. Search for your subject by name, and if you need help, ask a librarian!
New York Times This link opens in a new window
The library pays for all students, faculty, and staff to have unlimited access to the New York Times, including its online archive. Follow the directions at this link to set up an account using your SMC email address, and then you can search at nytimes.com for your subject by name.

HathiTrust
HathiTrust has many publications related to the NWC on their site including a number of presidential reports and congressional publications before and after the conference.
Heritage Quest from St. Joseph County Public Library
Contains genealogical and historical sources going back as far as the 1700s. You will need an SJCPL library card barcode in order to access the database.

The Marjorie Randal National Women's Conference Collection
This digital collection contains approximately 150 items documenting the planning and activities leading up to, during, and after the 1977 National Women’s Conference and includes brochures, flyers, newsletters, invitations, correspondence, and publications.
The Houston Breakthrough
A monthly paper that was published from 1976-1980 on women's issues in Houston. Look especially at the daily issues that were published during the NWC on November 18, 19, and 20, 1977.
How Did the National Women's Conference in Houston in 1977 Shape a Feminist Agenda for the Future?
This is a document project (a collection of primary source documents with annotations and explanations) from Women and Social Movements in the United States, a collection of primary source documents that the library subscribes to.

Start with some of these books and then branch out as needed to explore topics that are relevant to your subject:

American Women on the Move: The Inside Story of the National Women's Conference, 1977 by Shelah Gilbert Leader; Patricia Rusch Hyatt
Call Number: ON RESERVE HQ1421 .L43 2016
Feminists in Politics: A Panel Analysis of the First National Women's Conference by Alice S. Rossi
Call Number: ON RESERVE HQ 1391 .U5 R83
Divided We Stand: The Battle Over Women's Rights And Family Values That Polarized American Politics by Marjorie J. Spruill
Call Number: ON RESERVE HQ 1421 .S683 2017
Big Sister: Feminism, Conservatism, and Conspiracy in the Heartland by Erin M. Kempker
Publication Date: 2018
The mid-Seventies represented a watershed era for feminism. A historic National Women's Conference convened in Houston in 1977. Conservative women in the Midwest, however, saw an event like the International Year of the Woman not as a celebration, but as part of a conspiracy that would lead to radicalism and one-world government. Focusing on Indiana, Kempker views this phenomenon within the larger history of right-wing fears of subversion during the Cold War.
The spirit of Houston : the First National Women's Conference : an official report to the President, the Congress and the people of the United States
Call Number: HQ 1403 .S75
Publication Date: 1978
This is an official report about the conference, written by the national commission that sponsored the conference. It's available as both a print book in the library and an ebook, available from the link in this entry.