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Reference Services
Online access is through our library catalog, unless held in a different digital collection.
The strength of our collection is in the older books on the topic. Most books must be used in the library, even if it isn't noted in the catalog or on this guide.
These are just a few examples of items at the Connecticut State Library (CSL).
Many of the descriptions come from external sources, such as LibGuides platform. The Connecticut State Library provides the information without endorsing the description. Move your mouse over the information icon (black circle with i).
Hear the Call by
Great Britain
LIBGUIDES: "This work introduces a selection of literary texts from the early 20th century, offering a new perspective on women's campaign for the vote in Britain. the ways in which campaigners used literary forms to mobilize political ideas and challenge gender ideologies. The works of major figures in the campaign are included as well as those who formed the rank-and-file, who opposed women's suffrage, or who simply observed the action. The excerpts are long enough to enable the reader to become familiar with the diversity of voices, explore the textual strategies adopted and understand the issues that prompted the most passionate debates. writing, the material is organized around four key aspects of the campaign: conversion to the cause; suffrage militancy; the prison experience; and questions of identity. Each extract is prefaced by contextual information and a chronology is provided. The book includes brief biographies of all the authors."
The Ladies of Seneca Falls by
Catalog & LIBGUIDES: "An account of the feminist movements of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries focusing on Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony."
Rampant Women by
Library catalog record has a long description
LIBGUIDES: "Introduction : women and freedom of expression before the twentieth century -- The right of association : mass meetings, delegations, and conventions -- The open-air campaigns : suffragists take their message to the streets -- Petitions : the power and limits of women's sole political tool -- Parades : shoulder to shoulder, women march -- Pageants : acting onstage and offstage -- Picketing : women's first battle for first amendment rights -- Conclusion : the legacy of suffrage assemblies."
Votes and More for Women: suffrage and after in Connecticut by
Description for LibGuides: "... demonstrates the diversity of Connecticut's women's feminist activities in pre- and post-suffrage eras and refutes the notion that feminist activism died out with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment."
Votes Without Leverage by
LIBGUIDES: "Votes without Leverage re-examines a long-standing puzzle in women's electoral politics. Namely why the increasing importance of women's votes throughout the 1920s did not imply increasing success for the lobbying efforts of women's organizations during the same period. Applying recent theoretical developments in the political economy of institutions and electoral behavior, Professor Harvey argues that female disenfranchisement prior to 1920 created incentives for leaders of women's organizations to invest in the pursuit of suffrage as a first step to achieving other policy benefits for women. When the battle over the right to vote was finally won, those leaders then required time to adapt their organizations to pursue a broader legislative agenda through conventional electoral politics. During this time, however, the major party organizations were able to initiate their own electoral mobilization of women, giving the parties significant advantages in imperfectly competitive markets for women's electoral mobilization. Without women's votes, those organizations ceased to be able to win policy concessions from vote-minded legislators, a state of affairs that would not significantly change until the accelerated decline of the parties as mobilization organizations in the 1960s."
Women's Suffrage in America by
Catalog record: "Chronicles the struggle of American women for the right to vote, from 1800 to their victory in 1920. Includes quotations from contemporary witnesses through memoirs, letters, and other documents of the period."
LIBGUIDES: "Part of a series of historical references, this volume addresses the Women's Suffrage Movement in America between 1820 and 1920, during which time leaders like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan Anthony spearheaded reform movements seeking equality for women. Eyewitness accounts are supplied by referring to contemporary records of observers and participants."
Women, Politics, and Power by
LIBGUIDE: "This comprehensive text on women in politics provides a clear and detailed introduction to women's political representation across a wide range of countries and regions, addressing both women's parliamentary representation and women's ascendance to leadership positions as heads of state or cabinet ministers."
Jailed for Freedom by
A firsthand account of the National Woman's Party, which organized and fought a fierce battle for passage of the 19th Amendment. The suffragists endured hunger strikes, forced feedings, and jail terms. First written in 1920 by Doris Stevens, this version was edited by Carol O'Hare. Includes an introduction by Smithsonian curator Edith Mayo, along with appendices, an index, historic photos, and illustrations.
Winning the Vote: the triumph of the American woman suffrage movement by
LIBGUIDE: "A beautifully illustrated and fact-filled history of American women's drive for political equality from the 1840s to 1920 and after. Top quality reproductions of rarely seen historical photographs, posters, leaflets, and color illustrations, with over 75 profiles of leaders of this early, nearly forgotten nonviolent civil rights movement. Collectable First Edition."
Requires a library card to access.
These are examples of items that are available through subscription databases, which require a library card to access. Most can be accessed with a current card from your local Connecticut public library. When a card from the Connecticut State is required, it is indicated.
American Women Playwrights from 1900 to 1950 by
Catalog and LIBGUIDES: "This book presents an analysis of the many plays written by women in the American theatre in the first half of the century. Such playwrights as Rachel Crothers, Zona Gale, Susan Glaspell, Edna Ferber, and Lillian Hellman were popular and successful contributors to the stage. Many of their plays won such awards as the Pulitzer Prize, the Drama Critics Circle Award, and Tony Awards. The plays are discussed in terms of their popular and critical value and placed within the historical and social background of the period. In this time of intense change for women in American society, the plays reflect the new demands for freedom, careers, the right to vote, equality with men, and the right to intellectual development. Shafer calls attention to many fine plays which deserve production today."
Votes for Women! by
LIBGUIDE: "Organized and methodical, Carrie Chapman Catt led the National American Woman Suffrage Association for over twenty years, culminating in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment."