American Women's Diaries

Microform Collection

Location:  Microfilm  CT 3260 A495

Scope:
"The American Women's Diaries collection offers firsthand accounts of the lives, contributions, and innermost thoughts of women from the colonial period through the turn of the 20th century. Researchers gain new perspectives on a myriad of topics including daily life and the struggle to survive, religion, childbirth and child rearing, education, social issues, war and peace, and personal strengths of women from diverse ethnic and social backgrounds. The collection is divided into three geographic segments, each supporting an important historical period." (Readex)

The three geographic segments are:
      New England Women including:

        Southern Women including:

          Western Women:  Western women's diaries include overland and settlement accounts of the westward movement, politics, daily life, the Civil War, relations with Native Americans and native American accounts and religious life. There are 632 women represented in the Western Women diaries collection. A printed guide titled Guide to American Women's Diaries Segment III: Western Women is shelved next to the microfilm at Microfilm CT 3260 A495 Guide. Every work is listed under the name of the woman by whom or about whom it was written, followed by a brief description of the subjects covered.  Pickler Memorial Library has put together a list of diaries from the Western women's diaries which indicate a connection to Missouri - "Pickler Memorial Library Guide to Missouri Connection in Western Women's Diaries". 

How to search the collection:

For the American Women's Diaries Segment I: New England Women and Segment II: Southern Women, this guide and Truman's Library Catalog tell you which women are on which reel numbers.  There are also very nice synopses at the beginning of each reel.

For the American Women's Diaries Segment III: Western Women there is a print guide which is shelved with the microfilm at Microfilm CT 3260 A495.  You will need it to look up individual women.  Write down the reel number and Readex number for the material that you want. Go to the microfilm boxes for the American Women's Diaries Segment III: Western Women at Microfilm CT 3260 A495.  The boxes are labeled with the reel numbers.  At the beginning of each reel is a table of contents which tells where each Readex number is on the reel. 
The American Women's Diaries Segment III: Western Women has individual catalog records for each woman in WorldCat.  You can use a keyword search for "american women's diaries and western" to pull up these records.  

Guides:

Guide and Index to Women's Diaries Segment 1: New England Women. New Canaan, Ct: Readex Microprint Corporation. 1984. (Microfilm CT 3260 A49 Guide).

Guide to American Women's Diaries Segment II: Southern Women. New Canaan, Ct.: Readex Microprint Corporation. (Microfilm CT 3260 A492 Guide)

Guide to American Women's Diaries Segment III: Western Women. New Canaan, Ct: Readex Microprint Corporation. (Microfilm CT 3260 A495 Guide)

Pickler Memorial Library Guide to Missouri Connection in Western Women's Diaries

For more information about this subject in our Library Catalog, check out these
Subject Categories:

Time Period:   18th Century  19th Century  20th Century

Subject keywords: U. S. History, Women's Studies

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