Women and the Law
HeinOnline Specialist
Additional Resources
Part of the American Women Series, this research guide provides access to digital collections and related resources regarding the legal rights of women in the United States.
The papers of suffragist, reformer, and feminist theorist Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) cover the years 1814 to 1946, with most of the material concentrated between 1840 and 1902. Consisting of approximately 1,000 items (4,164 images), reproduced on five reels of recently digitized microfilm, the collection contains correspondence, speeches, articles, drafts of books, scrapbooks, and printed matter relating to Stanton and the woman's rights movement. A finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Papers is available online with links to the digital content on this site.
National American Woman Suffrage Association Records
The records of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) span the years from 1839 to 1961 but are most numerous for the period 1890 to 1930. The collection consists of approximately 26,700 items (52,078 images), most of which were digitized from 73 microfilm reels. These records reflect NAWSA's multifaceted history, including the activities of precursor organizations involved in the abolition and women's rights movements, state and federal campaigns for women's suffrage, the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and international women's suffrage organizing. A finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the NAWSA records is available online with links to the digital content on this site.
The papers of reformer and suffragist Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) span the period 1846-1934 with the bulk of the material dating from 1846 to 1906. The collection, consisting of approximately 500 items (6,265 images) on seven recently digitized microfilm reels, includes correspondence, diaries, a daybook, scrapbooks, speeches, and miscellaneous items. Donated by her niece, Lucy E. Anthony, the papers relate to Susan B. Anthony's interests in abolition and women's education, her campaign for women's property rights and suffrage in New York, and her work with the National Woman Suffrage Association, the organization she and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded in 1869 when the suffrage movement split into two rival camps at odds about whether to press for a federal women's suffrage amendment or to seek state-by-state enfranchisement. A finding aid (PDF and HTML) to the Susan B. Anthony Papers is available online with links to the digital content on this site.
This blog post from the Library of Congress provides an overview of the women's suffrage movement, with links to relevant content within LOC's collection.
This guide provides the legislative history, proclamations, and laws related to establishing and designating Women's History Month (March).
Archives for Research on Women
This libguide from Georgia State University present information on using the University's Archives for Research on Women and Gender, which documents the experiences of women and men participating in women-centered and LGBTQ activist and advocacy activities in Georgia and the Southeast throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. It also documents the experiences of women at Georgia State University.
Gender Justice and Indian Sovereignty: Native American Women and the Law
Hosted by the Thomas Jefferson School of Law and part of its annual Women Law Conference series, the 2011 conference addressed a wide range of issues affecting Native American women, including gender-related violence and Indian Country law enforcement, development of Indian Nation courts, governments, and businesses, civil rights and intersectionality issues, and the leadership roles of American Indian women. A conference program with a full list of speakers is available at the above link.
Global Women's Leadership Project - UN Women's Family Law Database
This libguide from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School provides an introduction to the Global Women’s Leadership Project (GWLP), developed under the auspices of Under Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. It is a clearing house of information on laws that govern women’s status in the family and is the first phase of the UN Women’s Family Law database.
Lucy Hargrett Draper U.S. Equal Rights Amendment (1921-1982) Research Collection
The Lucy Hargrett Draper U.S. Equal Rights Amendment (1921-1982) Research Collection at Georgia State University is comprised of primary and secondary materials of all formats relating to efforts and activities at state, regional and national levels, to secure the passage of an equal rights amendment for women.
From Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute, the Women & Justice collection provides access to international, regional, and domestic case law and legislation from around the world related to promoting gender justice and ending gender-based violence.
A project of Stanford University's Robert Crown Law Library, the Women's Legal History website is a searchable database of articles and papers on pioneering women lawyers in the United States.
Formed in 1974, Equal Rights Advocates (ERA) is a legal organization that fights for gender justice in workplaces and schools across the United States.
International Women's Rights Project
The International Women’s Rights Project (IWRP) was founded in 1998 to strengthen the capacity of women’s NGOs in Canada and internationally to advocate for women’s human rights. The IWRP works to influence the implementation of international human rights standards through collaboration, participatory research and evidence-based advocacy.
National Women's History Alliance
Founded in 1980, the National Women's History Alliance is known nationally as the only clearinghouse providing information and training in multicultural women’s history for educators, community organizations, and parents. Their lobbying was instrumental in Congress designating March as National Women's History Month in 1987.
This page from hg.org, one of the world's largest non-subscription legal information sites, provides an overview of the major legal issues facing today.
National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE)
The National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE), founded in 1979, is a coalition of women's and civil rights organizations; labor unions; religious, professional, legal, and educational associations, commissions on women, state and local pay equity coalitions and individuals working to eliminate sex- and race-based wage discrimination and to achieve pay equity. Its purpose is to close the wage gap that still exists between women, as well as people of color, and men.
National Organization of Women
Founded in 1996, the National Organization for Women is the largest organization of feminist grassroots activists in the United States. Its purpose is to take action through intersectional grassroots activism to promote feminist ideals, lead societal change, eliminate discrimination, and achieve and protect the equal rights of all women and girls in all aspects of social, political, and economic life.
Founded in 1972, the National Women's Law Center uses the law in all its forms to change culture and drive solutions to the gender inequity that shapes our society and to break down the barriers that harm all of us--especially women of color, LGBTQ people, and low-income women and families.
UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. It supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide. It works globally to make the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals a reality for women and girls and stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life
This page provides an overview of the issues addressed by the ACLU Women's Rights Project, which pushes for change and systemic reform in institutions that perpetuate discrimination against women, focusing its work in the areas of employment, violence against women, and education.
Women's Rights Information Center
This New Jersey-based nonprofit helps women in transition gain career, life, and the resource-building skills necessary to be independent earners.
Based in New Mexico, Women's Rights International works with rural women and girls who are living in countries at war or under state-sponsored violence.
A Century of Women in Congress
This page from the History, Art & Archives of the United States House of Representatives explores the role of women serving in Congress.
Finding the Fertile Fact Women's Legal History Research Pathfinder
This bibliography is designed to help researchers pursing biographical research on women in law and provides extensive primary and secondary sources to aid researchers.
Forgotten History: The Women Who Brought Us Title IX
This oral history collection from the Jerome Hall Law Library, Indiana University Maurer School of Law features interviews with ten women, plus one man, who were instrumental in the passage and/or enforcement of Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments to the Civil Rights Act. These histories were recorded by Indiana University emerita professor, Julia Lamber, in the early 2000s.
Subject Compilations of State Laws - Women
Subject Compilations of State Laws aids researchers in identifying thousands of articles, books, government documents, looseleaf services, court opinions and Internet sites that compare state laws on hundreds of subjects. This page specifically contains resources related to women.
Timeline of Major Supreme Court Decisions on Women's Rights
This leaflet from the ACLU Women's Rights Project provides a timeline of major Supreme Court Decisions on women's rights from 1971-2007.
The Women Trailblazers in the Law Project (WTP) from the American Bar Association captures the oral histories of women pioneers in the legal profession nationwide, memorializing their stories in their own voices and preserving their experiences and observations for future generations.
Women's & Gender Studies Research Network
The Women's & Gender Studies Research Network (WGSRN) provides access to research, scholarship and policy about women and gender. Its purpose is to share and build knowledge on women’s rights and equality, gender identity and gender representation, including men’s studies and queer studies.
This interactive map from the Center for Reproductive Rights is the definitive record of the legal status of abortion in countries across the globe. The map categorizes the legal status of abortion on a continuum from severe restrictiveness to relative liberality. It is updated in real time, reflecting changes in national laws so human rights advocates can monitor how countries are protecting—or denying—reproductive rights around the world.
This page from the International Justice Resource Center provides an overview of legal protections and key women's rights issues facing women all around the world.