Women's History Research in Archives : Digital Collections at UW

How to research women's history in archival sources

Digital Collections at UW

The Dovie Horvitz Collection The Dovie Horvitz Collection consists of over 1,300 images and scanned texts representing objects and printed matter that reflect the lives of women from the mid 1800s through the mid 1900s. The items themselves were collected by Mrs. Dovie Horvitz over almost two decades and remain her property. The University of Wisconsin System Gender and Women’s Studies Librarian sponsored the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections project of mounting the photographs and scanned texts for their value to instructors and students of women’s history. In Mrs. Horvitz’ words, “[i]t is my hope that viewing these items allows us to peek into the personal lives of the average American woman, whose stories rarely included fame and fortune.” The UW Digital Collections readily agreed to the project, seeing its value as well for those studying general American history, literature, material culture, health and hygiene, design, advertising, marketing, and numerous allied fields.
The Human Ecology Collection Human ecology is an academic discipline that deals with the relationship between humans and their natural, social and created environments. Human ecology investigates how humans and human societies interact with nature and with their environment. The Human Ecology Collection brings together, in digital form, primary and secondary materials relating to human ecology as well as archival photos documenting the history of the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.