In Her Own Words – Lives of Women Through Diaries, Journals, Correspondence and So Much More (Women)

We love to explore the lives of our ancestors. Documenting our female ancestors can often prove more challenging. They are less likely to appear in many government records created at the time – land, estate, court, tax records, and more. One great resource to learn more about our overshadowed female ancestors is via their own words. Personally written diaries, journals, correspondence, and more, as found in private collections, a.k.a. manuscript collections at many archives and library collections, are priceless. Until recently, with the advent of Archivegrid and online digitized finding aids, it had been challenging to Identify and locate these types of materials. These personally written records are now more accessible than ever to us.

But women’s “voices” don’t stop with the above! Most of our ancestors didn’t write in diaries or send letters; if they did, they didn’t survive. They shared their voices in other ways—through annotations on basic household items (calendars, cookbooks, and beyond), participation in clubs and civic and religious societies, documented attendance at school, and myriad other ways. Let’s check out almost 20 places where our female ancestors are documented in non-governmental records. Let them speak to you and share their lives with you directly!

We’ll also discuss how you identify and access these materials as relevant to your research.