Research Guides: National History Day 2025-2026: Revolution, Reaction, Reform: Education Reform

Women's Education

In the 20th Century, opportunities for women in education changed drastically. From education at women's colleges to the introduction of co-education, the resources available at the Schlesinger Library on the topic of education encompass many challenges and triumphs. Researchers interested in this topic are also encouraged to explore the Schlesinger Library research guides for Education and Archivists and Librarians. Below, you will find archival material, books, journals, and newsletters covering the topic of education. 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.

This guide is only a small piece of what we have. Don't be discouraged if your topic isn't listed. Further material can be found by searching HOLLIS, Harvard's online library catalog. Some terms to begin your search: "education," "women's education," "women's colleges," "coeducation," "educators," "teachers," "professors," and "librarians." Ask a Schlesinger Librarian is also one of the best ways to help start your research and see if we have material related to your topic.

Radcliffe College Archives

The history of Radcliffe is a perfect topic for this year's History Day. Radcliffe was founded as a women's college in the late 1800s and during the height of advocacy for women's higher education. In 1879, a group of reformers founded the Harvard Annex, where women could receive instruction from Harvard faculty. Over time, the Harvard Annex grew, and in 1894, it was chartered as Radcliffe College. From the beginning, degrees were countersigned by the Harvard president to attest that they were “equivalent in all respects to the degrees given to the graduates of Harvard College.”

Schlesinger is home to the Radcliffe College Archives, which documents the history of the College's founding to its eventual merger with Harvard University in 1999. The archive includes administrative documents, student correspondence, scrapbooks, biographical files, and photographs. It is important to remember that just like student files today, some material may be restricted. If you have a question about restricted material, you can always set up a consultation or email one of our librarians. For more information, check out Radcliffe College Archives Digital Collections.

Archival Collections - Online

Bazoline Usher [in the Black Women Oral History Project]
Educator Bazoline Usher was one of the first Black supervisors in the Atlanta public schools, and assistant principal of Booker T. Washington High School (Atlanta), the first high school to be established for Black students, in 1929. A transcript of Bazoline Usher's interview included in the Black Women Oral History Project has been digitized. For more information about the project, please visit the Black Women Oral History Project research guide.
Charlotte Hawkins Brown (1883-1961)
Educator and founder of the Palmer Memorial Institute in Sedalia, North Carolina, Charlotte Eugenia Hawkins Brown was active in the National Council of Negro Women and the North Carolina Teachers Association, and was the first Black woman to serve on the national board of the YWCA. She lectured and wrote about Black women, education, and race relations. The collection includes correspondence, speeches, and memorabilia pertain to Brown's accomplishments in the field of education for Black Americans. Institute material includes charter, constitution, reports, student publications, publicity and fund-raising material, and photos. The majority of the collection has been digitized. Digitized materials are available in the "Digital Material" tab of the finding aid for the Papers of Charlotte Hawkins Brown. Digitized images from the Papers of Charlotte Hawkins Brown are also available in HOLLIS Images.
Frances Albrier [in the Black Women Oral History Project]
Social worker, political and community leader, Frances Albrier was instrumental in eliminating discrimination in the hiring of teachers in the Berkeley schools. In 1954, she received "Fight for Freedom Award" from NAACP. A transcript of Frances Albrier's interview included in the Black Women Oral History Project has been digitized. For more information about the project, please visit the Black Women Oral History Project research guide.
Gerda Lerner (1920-2013)
Lerner was one of the earliest proponents of women’s history as a field of study. She taught at Sarah Lawrence College, where she established the nation’s first Women’s History graduate program, and at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where she created the nation's first Women's History PhD program. The Papers of Gerda Lerner include biographical information, professional correspondence and drafts of her historical writings, and correspondence. The majority of digitized materials are included in the Additional Papers of Gerda Lerner, which includes correspondence, journals, notes, speeches, and drafts documenting Lerner's life and work. Digitized materials are available in the "Digital Material" tab of the finding aid for the Additional Papers of Gerda Lerner. Digitized images of Gerda Lerner are also available in HOLLIS Images.
Judy Chicago (b. 1939)
Increasingly sensitive to the need for an environment in which women artists could express themselves freely without regard to the male-dominated art world, Chicago pioneered feminist art education programs at California State University at Fresno and at the California Institute of the Arts, where she and artist Miriam Shapiro directed an installation called Womanhouse. In 1973, she organized the Feminist Studio Workshop, the first independent feminist art education program in the country. Series II of the collection covers writing, lectures, and interviews, and Series IV of the collection covers teaching and related materials. Digitized materials are available in the "Digital Material" tab of the Papers of Judy Chicago finding aid. Additional material is available via the Judy Chicago Research Portal. Digitized images from the Papers of Judy Chicago are also available in HOLLIS Images.
Pauli Murray (1910-1985)
Pauli Murray attended Hunter College in New York City. She later decided that she should pursue graduate study, but she was refused entry to the University of North Carolina because of her race. Murray's life experiences ignited her interest in civil rights law, and she entered Howard University Law School in the fall of 1941. Upon graduating from Howard, Murray attempted to enroll to Harvard Law School, but Harvard did not admit women. Murray traveled to Ghana in 1960 to teach law, and a little over a year after her arrival in Africa, Murray arrived in New Haven, Connecticut, to pursue graduate studies at Yale Law School, where she earned a J.D.S. In 1968 she secured a teaching position at Brandeis University, where she remained until 1973. Digitized materials, the majority of which come from Series VI - Audiotapes, are available in the "Digital Material" tab of the Papers of Pauli Murray finding aid. Digitized images from the Papers of Pauli Murray are also available in HOLLIS Images.
Ruth Batson (1921-2003)
Collection contains correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, speeches, writings, travel diaries, etc., documenting Ruth Batson's work as a civil rights advocate and educator in Massachusetts. Also included are reports, minutes, memos, publications, etc., from various organizations with which Batson was active, including Boston University, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO), the Museum of Afro American History, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Ruth M. Batson Educational Fund.

Archival Collections - In-Person

Joan Kelly (1928-1982)
Feminist historian, author and educator, professor of history at the City University of New York, Joan Kelly was the co-founder and co-director with Gerda Lerner of the first Master of Arts program in women's history, established at Sarah Lawrence College. The collection contains notes, outlines and drafts of Kelly's unfinished book on the history of feminism and feminist thought, lecture notes and teaching materials, including syllabi and class preparation notes, and articles by Kelly.
Linda Anne Eastman (1867-1963)
The first woman to head a metropolitan library system in the United States, Eastman, as librarian of the Cleveland Public Library, was responsible for innovations in library service. She taught library science at Western Reserve University and was active in the American Library Association. The collection includes correspondence, biographical material, and writings.

Published Materials

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 "women's education" 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.