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History of Sexuality in the U.S.
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Women's studies encyclopediaRef HQ1115 .W645 1999
Encyclopedia of women and genderRef HQ1115 .E52 2001
Girl culture : an encyclopediaRef HQ798 .G523 2008
Encyclopedia of women in American historyRef HQ1410 .E53 2002
American Women Through Time
A digitized timeline of American women's history including documents such as diaries, photographs, letters, and historian lectures.
[More details]This chronology is part of the MTSU site on women's history.
Sexbiblio: Bibliography of the History of Western Sexuality
Bibliography of sources on the history of sexuality in Europe and the U.S., 1700-2004.
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Talking History
This oral history and history lecture collection from the University at Albany, SUNY is keyword searchable.
[More details]Suggested Books
The African American experience : an historiographical and bibliographical guideRef E184.65 .A37 2001
See the essay on sexuality and race.
Colonial America : an encyclopedia of social, political, cultural, and economic historyRef E162 .C68 2006
See the essay on Women and Gender issues.
Encyclopedia of American Social HistoryRef HN57 .E58 1993
Part XI in Volume 3 contains essays on family history, including sexual behavior
Gay & lesbian biographyRef HQ75.2 .G39 1997
Men and masculinities : a social, cultural, and historical encyclopediaRef HQ1090.3 .M436 2004
Sexuality and the law : an encyclopedia of major legal casesKF9325.A7 L46 1993
United States government documents on women, 1800-1990 : a comprehensive bibliographyRef HQ1410 .H84 1993
Margaret Sanger and the birth control movement : a bibliography, 1911-1984Ref HQ763.6.U5 M66 1986
Search the Library Catalog
You can start with a keyword search in the catalog, but be sure to look at the subject headings for books and videos that are relevant to your topic. Then search those headings. This is a list of potentially useful headings:
- Sex customs -- United States -- History
- Sex instruction -- United States -- History
- Sex role -- United States -- History Sexology -- United States
- Sexual ethics -- United States -- History
Some narrower terms include (add United States -- History to limit results):
- Abortion
- Birth control
- Childbirth
- Contraception
- Free love
- Homosexuality
- Interracial marriage
- Midwifery
- Midwives
- Miscegenation
- Prostitution
- Reproductive rights
Some more general terms may also yield useful sources:
- [Classes of persons] -- Sexual behavior
- Femininity
- Feminism
- Girls
- Masculinity
- Teenage girls
- United States -- Social life and customs -- [time period]
- Women -- Legal status-- United States
Recommended Article Databases
These databases also contain other secondary sources, such as theses, conference proceedings, book chapters, and more.
America: History & Life
Provides a robust source of information focusing on the history and life of the United States and Canada. Selective indexing includes over a thousand journals dating back over 55 years.
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JSTOR
Archive of selected scholarly journals in anthropology, art, art history, communication studies, criminology, ecology, economics, education, English, film studies, foreign languages and literatures, geography, geology, history, mathematics, music, philosophy, political science, public and international affairs, religion, social work, sociology, statistics, theatre, and other humanities and social sciences.
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Project MUSE
Project MUSE is a unique collaboration between libraries and publishers providing 100% full-text, to high quality humanities, arts, art history, creative writing, education, English, film studies, foreign languages and literatures, history, religion, theatre, and social sciences journals from scholarly publishers.
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APA PsycINFO
This database is the American Psychological Association (APA)'s renowned resource for abstracts of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books and dissertations. PsycINFO is the largest resource devoted to peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health, with ninety-nine percent of the covered material peer-reviewed.
[More details]Indexes the psychology literature back to 1870s.
Suggested Journal
Journal of the history of sexualityAvailable electronically
Primary Sources
American women's diaries Western women Microfilm CT3260 .A436
Guide on top of microfilm cabinet.
American women's diaries. SouthernMicrofilm CT3260 .A435
Guide on top of microfilm cabinet.
American women's diaries New EnglandMicrofilm CT3260 .A434
Guide on top of microfilm cabinet.
American DiariesCT214 .A7 1983
A bibliography of published diaries.
Women's diaries, journals, and letters : an annotated bibliography CT3230 .C55 1989
A bibliography of published diaries.
We shall be heard : an index to speeches by American women, 1978 to 1985Ref PS408 .M36 1988
Classics in lesbian studiesHQ75.5 .C53 1997
Gender issues and sexuality : essential primary sources HQ21 .G359 2007
Federal abortion politics : a documentary historyKF3771 .F43 1995
The Abortion controversy : a documentary historyKF3771.A7 A26 1994
Southern Women and Their Families in the 19th century
North American Women's Letters and Diaries
Resource includes the immediate experiences of 1,325 women and 150,000 pages of diaries and letters. The collection also includes biographies and an extensive annotated bibliography of the sources in the database.
[More details]Searchable and browsable in a variety of ways, including life event.
Readers' Guide Retrospective 1890-1982
Readers' Guide Retrospective is a database containing comprehensive indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States and reflects the history of 20th century America.This resource offers a wide range of researchers access to information about history, culture, science and seminal developments across nearly a century.
[More details]Indexes popular magazines 1890-1984.
Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective
Offers a broad range of subject coverage in the humanities and social sciences—including anthropology, archaeology, art, art history, family studies, foreign languages and literatures, history, law, music, performing arts, theatre and much more.
[More details]Indexes scholarly periodicals, 1901-1984.
Archives of Sexuality and Gender
Includes gay and lesbian newspapers from more than 35 countries, reports, policy statements, and other documents related to gay rights and health, including the worldwide impact of AIDS, materials tracing LGBTQ activism in Britain from 1950 through 1980, and more. Historical records of political and social organizations founded by LGBTQ individuals are featured, as well as publications by and for lesbians and gays, and extensive coverage of governmental responses to the AIDS crisis.
[More details]includes gay and lesbian newspapers from more than 35 countries, reports, policy statements, and other documents related to gay rights and health, including the worldwide impact of AIDS, materials tracing LGBTQ activism in Britain from 1950 through 1980, and more.
American Memory Project
Images, videos, and presentations compiled by the U.S. Library of Congress related to American history.
[More details]A digital collection from the Library of Congress. There is a topic section for Women's History. Other sections may also have useful material related to women, such as Advertising, African American History, Immigration, Literature, etc.
Discovering American Women's History Online
This database provides access to digital collections of primary sources (photos, letters, diaries, artifacts, etc.) that document the history of women in the United States. These diverse collections range from Ancestral Pueblo pottery to interviews with women engineers from the 1970s.
[More details]This database provides access to digital collections of primary sources (photos, letters, diaries, artifacts, etc.) that document the history of women in the United States.
Documents from the Women's Liberation Movement
Resource provides 103 items such as manifestos, speeches, essays, and others related to the U.S. Women's Movement in the 1960s and 1970s.
[More details]Manifestos, speeches, essays, and other materials documenting various aspects of the women's movement in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s.
American Women Through Time
A digitized timeline of American women's history including documents such as diaries, photographs, letters, and historian lectures.
[More details]
Sexbiblio: Bibliography of the History of Western Sexuality
Bibliography of sources on the history of sexuality in Europe and the U.S., 1700-2004.
[More details]
Margaret Sanger Papers Project
Historical editing project formed in 1985 to locate, arrange, edit, research, and publish the papers of the noted birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger.
[More details]Government Resources
HeinOnline
Contains more than 1,200 law and law-related periodicals. Coverage is from the first issue published for all periodicals and goes through the most-currently published issues allowed based on contracts with publishers. Retrieve articles by citation, browse, or search across nearly 50 million pages of content. HeinOnline also contains many useful resources for criminology, and public and international affairs, such as the Congressional Record Bound volumes in entirety, complete coverage of the U.S.
[More details]contains more than 1,200 law and law-related periodicals, as well as many useful resources for criminology and public &international affairs.
Use the legal section for court decisions and statutes.
Searching Beyond Randall Library
is a guide to searching beyond Randall Library for hard-to-find items.
[More details]History Librarian
Kiana Webster
Kiana
Webster
Social Sciences & History Librarian
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Finding Books on the Shelf
Ready to find library books on the shelf? Our books are arranged in Library of Congress call number order. Below are some helpful links and just ask a librarian for help if needed.
Library of Congress Classification (LC)
Randall Library help page for Library of Congress catalog classifications.
[More details]Writing Help
Writing Services
The Writing Center in the University Learning Center is located on the first floor of DePaolo Hall (DE 1003).
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Read&Write
Free to UNCW faculty, staff, and students, Read&Write is "a flexible literacy software solution that can help readers and writers...access support tools needed to reach their potential, build confidence and independence and succeed."
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