The Sophia Smith Collection of Women’s History collects, preserves and shares one of the largest collections of items related to US women’s history from the colonial era till these days, with over 10,000 feet of material.
The collection is rich and covers many fields of life, from culture to politics and social movements. Among the items in the collections are letters, diaries, scrapbooks, photographs, newspapers, manuscripts, audio and video interviews, and much more.
In 1942 Margaret Storrs Grierson (1900-1997), the Smith college archivist, got the mandate to start collecting historical women’s items and became the executive secretary of the library and the first director of the Sophia Smith Collection. Traveling all over the country and abroad for this mission, she started with collecting items related to the US suffrage movement and continued with material related to other fields and social movements like reproductive rights, reproductive justice, and the women’s liberation movement.
The Sophia Smith Collection’s mission is to enable researchers access to information so they would “tell the full, complicated story of these social and political movements.”
The Sophia Smith Collection resides at the Smith College. The college was founded in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875 as a women’s college. Starting with 14 students and 6 faculty members, by the 21st century, it had almost 3000 students and 41 academic departments and programs. Among Smith College famous graduates are:
- The author of Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell, class of ’22
- The famous chef and TV star Julia Child, class of 1934
- The poet Sylvia Plath, class of 1955
- The equal rights activist, feminist, and founder of Ms. magazine, Gloria Steinem, class of 1956
The Sophia Smith Collection of Women’s History is open to the public, and admission is free.
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