HIST 379 NAWSA Suffragist Project

"A primary source provides direct or firsthand evidence about an event, object, person, or work of art. Primary sources include historical and legal documents, eyewitness accounts, results of experiments, statistical data, pieces of creative writing, audio and video recordings, speeches, and art objects." From https://library.ithaca.edu/sp/subjects/primary

NAWSA Archives

• Proceedings of the annual convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association

These Proceedings describe the events during the NAWSA annual conventions. You can browse the list of members, elected officers, members of committees, and read transcripts of the meetings. You can look for you suffragist's activities here.

• Miller NAWSA Suffrage Scrapbooks, 1897-1911

Scrapbooks detailing NAWSA activities, compiled by Elizabeth Smith Miller and her daughter, Anne Fitzhugh Miller from Geneva, N. Y. Search or browse this collection online.

Census

The New York and United States Censuses contain information such as a persons name, gender, race, occupation, and lists of names of other members in their household. You can try searching for your suffragist or their spouse's name here.

• Search the New York State Census (1905-1925)
• Search the 1910 U.S. Census

Newspapers

Newspapers from the early 20th century often contain social information, much like Facebook and Twitter do now. Try searching for your suffragist by name (try only last name, and variations of last and first name). Also try browsing the pages during and shortly after events that your suffragist took part in. If your suffragist was part of a church or other organization, try searching for that organization by name. Newspapers.com also has an array of digitized newspapers, but it requires a paid subscription.

• Historic Newspapers in Chronicling America - digital collection of early 20th century and late 19th century newspapers
• Newspapers Online - digital collections of recent newspapers (click the tab for "Newspapers")
• Historical newspapers online - access to digital forms of older newspapers
• Newspapers on Microfilm - click this link to do a search in BearCat for newspapers available in microfilm

Obituaries

If you know when and where your suffragist died, you may be able to find her obituary. Obituaries often include a brief description of a person's life, that includes locations where they lived, their profession, organizations that they were active in, as well as names or surviving family members. If you're lucky, you might even find a picture of your suffragist!

• Information on finding New York State Obituaries - a list of resources you can use to search for obituaries in New York