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National History Day 2022-2023: Frontiers in History

Women during Westward Expansion

Below you'll find archival material, books, and journals and newsletters covering the topic of women's lives during the time period of Westward Expansion. Please note that the Schlesinger Library's archival holdings primarily represent the experiences of Americans of European descent during their travels west and do not on their own represent the full complexity of the historical moment. Materials that have been digitized and are available for remote access are listed first for each category, and materials that must be accessed in-person are listed second.

Further material on the topic can be found by searching HOLLIS, Harvard's online library catalog, for "American West," "western frontier," "women pioneers," "westward expansion," and "women in the west."

Archival Collections - Online

Archival Collections - In-Person

Books and Essays - Online

The library's published material collections are a rich source of information. Below, you'll find a sampling of books available to researchers online and researchers able to visit the library in-person, but a much larger selection is available through HOLLIS, Harvard University's catalog. To find material available at the Schlesinger Library, use the "Advanced Search" feature and limit your search to "Library Catalog. Choose "Schlesinger" from the "Scope" drop-down menu. Finally, select "Books" or "Journals" from the "Resource Type" drop-down menu. This search results list for the keyword "American West" serves as an example of the breadth of books available in the Schlesinger Library's collection.

Please note that some materials labeled as available "Online" in the library catalog may require HarvardKey access for remote access. During an in-person visit, you can access those materials on the Library's public computers.

Journals and Newsletters - In-Person