Women's History Commons^™

‘Following The Line Of Least Resistance’: African American Women In Domestic Work, 1899–1940, Taylor Simsovic

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This paper examines the challenges faced by African American women employed in domestic service between 1899 and 1940, with a focus on how race, class, and gender intersected to shape their experiences. Specifically, the study investigates how these women continued to perform reproductive labor as they migrated from the South to Northern states during the Great Migration. Drawing on a range of primary and secondary sources, the analysis argues that Black women's persistent employment in undervalued labor within white American homes was driven by the mutually constitutive systems of capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy. These systems channeled Black women into …

Ua12/2/67 Alpha Kappa Alpha, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Ua19/16/1 Lady Topper Basketball Media Guide, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Archives Records

2021-22 women's basketball media guide produced by WKU Athletic Media Relations, includes athletic records and statistics, photographs, schedule and information regarding opponents.

Ua19/16/1 Wku Lady Topper Basketball Media Guide, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Archives Records

2020-21 women's basketball media guide produced by WKU Athletic Media Relations, includes athletic records and statistics, photographs, schedule and information regarding opponents.

Ligon, Lucy Ann (Parker) Robbins, 1833-1891 - Letters To (Sc 3278), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescripts (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3278. Letters to Lucy Ann Robbins Ligon, the daughter of Fulton County, Kentucky judge Josiah Parker and his wife Lucy A. Parker, written while she lived in Crittenden County, Arkansas with her late husband’s brother, and in Hickman, Kentucky after her remarriage. Lucy’s parents relay news of her siblings and of pre-Civil War Hickman, and at the outbreak of war dramatically describe the division of loyalties, the townspeople’s fear and uncertainty as invasion threatens from the North, the enlistment of local men, two destructive fires, economic conditions, …

Ua19/16/1 Women's Basketball Media Guide, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Archives Records

2018-19 women's basketball media guide produced by WKU Athletic Media Relations, includes athletic records and statistics, photographs, schedule and information regarding opponents.

The Enigmatic "Cross-Over" Leadership Life Of Dr. Mary Mcleod Bethune (1875-1955), Greer Charlotte Stanford-Randle

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The dissertation is a deep study of an iconic 20^th century female, African American leader whose acclaim developed not only from her remarkable first generation post-Reconstruction Era beginnings, but also from her mid-century visibility among Negroes and some Whites as a principal spokesperson for her people. Mary Jane McLeod Bethune arose from the Nadir- the darkest period for Negroes after the Civil War and three subsequent US Constitutional Amendments. She led thousands of Negro women, despite social adversity, to organize around their own aspirations for improved social and material lives among America’s diverse citizens., i.e. “the melting pot.” The …

Gemini 14 Memories, Karen Matchus

Student/Alumni Personal Papers

Karen (Warren) Matchus' answers to WKU Gemini jazz band questionnaire. See Gemini Jazz Bands online exhibit for more information.

Ua12/2/62 Delta Sigma Theta, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

Anna Julia Cooper: A Quintessential Leader, Janice Y. Ferguson

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This study is a leadership biography which provides, through the lens of Black feminist thought, an alternative view and understanding of the leadership of Black women. Specifically, this analysis highlights ways in which Black women, frequently not identified by the dominant society as leaders, have and can become leaders. Lessons are drawn from the life of Anna Julia Cooper that provides new insights in leadership that heretofore were not evident. Additionally, this research offers provocative recommendations that provide a different perspective of what leadership is among Black women and how that kind of leadership can inform the canon of leadership. …

Lissauer, Mildred Wallis (Potter), 1897-1998 - Collector (Mss 482), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 482. Correspondence, scrapbooks, journals, diaries, photographs and miscellaneous papers of Mildred (Potter) Lissauer of Bowling Green and Louisville, Kentucky and of her family, especially her mother, Martha (Woods) Potter and her aunt, Elizabeth Moseley Woods.

The 1876 Centennial Exposed: How Souvenir Publications Reveal Contrasting Attitudes Of Race And Gender In The Post-Bellum United States, Hope Hancock

Mellon Scholars' Works

The Centennial Exhibition of 1876 celebrated not only the 100-year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence but the industrial innovation and reuniting of American society after the Civil War. Using two rare books about the Exhibiton, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Historical Register of the Centennial Exposition, 1876 and The Illustrated Historical Register of the Centennial Exhibition by James Dabney McCabe, Jr., this project compares the portrayal of women and African Americans in the late 19th-century United States.

Coombs Family Collection (Mss 349), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid for Manuscripts Collection 349. Correspondence, photographs, business records and miscellaneous papers of the Coombs, Robertson and related families of Warren and Simpson counties in Kentucky and of Alabama, Texas and Tennessee. Includes correspondence, personal papers and research of Elizabeth Robertson Coombs, librarian at the Kentucky Library, Western Kentucky University. Several documents from this collection have been scanned are available for viewing by clicking on the "Additional Files" below.

Edmunds Family Papers (Mss 443), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 443. Correspondence, deeds, legal and other personal papers of the Edmunds family of North Carolina and Caldwell County, Kentucky. Includes genealogical data and papers of associated families, primarily the Cameron family of North Carolina.

Suydam, Louise Twyman, 1915-1991 (Sc 833), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 833. Chiefly correspondence between Louise Twyman Suydam, Fort Pierce, Florida, and WKU Kentucky Building faculty concerning Suydam’s memories of Bowling Green during the 1920s, and biographical information about the Wright family. Includes a typescript copy of Suydam’s reminiscence, "The Best of Times?”

Hassman, Drusilla (Hand), 1875-1971 (Mss 413), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 413. Chiefly courtship letters addressed to Drusilla (Hand) Hassman, Evansville, Indiana from various male admirers. Also correspondence with her husband, Fred Hassman, and letters sent to them as a married couple from friends and family.

Strange Collection (Mss 42), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 42. Correspondence, 1864-1878 (8); journal, 1852-1883; scrapbooks (2); Manuscript: “House of Madison and McDowell in Kentucky,” 1888; family genealogical data; slave records; etc., of Agatha (Rochester) Strange, 1832-1896, a lifelong resident of Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Beck, Louis Marvin, 1933-1992 (Fa 76), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and audio file (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Folklife Archives Project 76. Interview with Ophelia Ellen Johnson Hanna about her family and education growing up as an African American in Warren County, Kentucky. Includes taped interview and index.

Swept Under The Rug? A Historiography Of Gender And Black Colleges, Marybeth Gasman

Marybeth Gasman

This historiography of gender and black colleges uncovers the omission of women and gender relations. It uses an integrative framework, conceptualized by Evelyn Nakano Glenn, that considers race and gender as mutually interconnected, revealing different results than might be seen by considering these issues independently. The article is significant for historians and nonhistorians alike and has implications for educational policy and practice in the current day.

"Spectacular Opacities": The Hyers Sisters' Performances Of Respectability And Resistance, Jocelyn Buckner

Theatre Faculty Articles and Research

This essay analyzes the Hyers Sisters, a Reconstruction-era African American sister act, and their radical efforts to transcend social limits of gender, class, and race in their early concert careers and three major productions, Out of Bondage and Peculiar Sam, or The Underground Railroad, two slavery-to-freedom epics, and Urlina, the African Princess, the first known African American play set in Africa. At a time when serious, realistic roles and romantic plotlines featuring black actors were nearly nonexistent due to the country’s appetite for stereotypical caricatures, the Hyers Sisters used gender passing to perform opposite one another as heterosexual lovers in …

Davis, Virginia Wood, 1919-1990 (Mss 375), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 375. Correspondence, photographs, diaries, and personal and professional writing of Virginia Wood Davis, a Smiths Grove, Kentucky native and a reporter and editor, 1943-1985, for newspapers in Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and McCreary County, Kentucky. Includes genealogical data as well as correspondence and miscellaneous papers of her family, especially her mother, Virginia Wood (Cox) Davis.

Green Collection (Mss 49), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 49. Correspondence of the Green family, Falls of Rough, Grayson County, Kentucky, including business papers and account books, and correspondence for several generations of the Robert Wilmot Scott family, originally of Frankfort, Kentucky.

Klimowicz, Teresa D. (Fa 13), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 13. Interviews conducted by Teresa D. Klimowicz with Esther (Magers) Isbell, a native of Barren Coutny, Kentucky. Special attention is focused on her biblical themed quilts. Isbell also discusses her various occupations and participation in community affairs while living in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Over Here, Over There (Fa 480), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 480. Collection contains recorded interviews and transcriptions conducted by David Baxter and Laura Harper Lee. The interviews contain information about the war effort at home and, for those who served, their experiences with the military and their combat experiences specifically.

Chase, Barbara J. (Fa 316), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 316. Paper: "A Study of the Black Cosmetology Field" written by Barbara J. Chase for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Ua19/16/1 The Tradition Continues, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Archives Records

WKU volleyball media guide for the 2006 season.

Ua12/2/1 Back On Their Feet, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Archives Records

College Heights Herald magazine about the women's basketball team. Articles include:

• Moore, Michael. Team Hopes to Win Back Fans, Fame
• Schoenbaechler, Danny. Without Star, Team Will Count on Scoring by Committee
• Farner, Keith. Conference Getting Stronger as Lady Toppers Try to Follow Suit
• Casagrande, Michael. No. 21 Louisiana Tech to Test Lady Toppers Out of Gate
• Lively, Jay. Her Vertical Takes Her a Half-inch Above the Rim – Tiffany Porter-Talbert
• Casagrande, Michael. Tiffany Diggins Expected to Step Up After Injury
• Moore, Michael. Camryn Whitaker’s Absence Leaves Team Wondering
• Eadens, Adam. Seniors Set Pace for New Season
• Buckman, Josh. Mary Cowles’ …

Pseudo-Democracy In America, 1945-1960: Anticommunism Versus The Social Issues Of African Americans And Women., Fashion S. Bowers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During the period 1945 - 1960, the United States developed an intense fervor of anticommunism and strove to prevent the spread of communism to other nations, particularly the Indochina region. As a result, the government ignored or responded inadequately to key social events at home affecting both women and African Americans. This thesis will explore the extent of the active involvement in Indochina to prevent the spread of communism and the effects of that involvement on major social issues at home concerning African Americans and women. The United States had numerous opportunities to discontinue its involvement in Indochina, but it …

Ua12/2/1 Super Powers, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Archives Records

Special women's basketball issue of the College Heights Herald. Articles:

• Compton, Michael. Natalie Powers Ready to Take Center Stage
• Tucker, Kyle. Brutal Schedule Should Keep Nation Watching
• Sutton, Lyndsay. LaVonda Johnson Returns from ACL Tear
• Schoenbaechler, Danny. Lady Toppers Trying to Replace ShaRae Mansfield Inside
• Bastani, Camron. Season Ticket Sales Fall 10 Percent, Raise Concern
• Moore, Michael. Shawn Campbell Finds Coaching Love Connection
• Lewis, Dustin. Lady Topper Backcourt Still a Mystery
• Clark, Ryan. Louisiana Tech’s Departure Clears Yard
• Farner, Keith. Transfers Will Add Height, Experience
• Compton, Michael. Vanderbilt University Rules, Cardinals Appear in Top 25

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 76, No. 52, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Archives Records

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. Articles in this issue:

• Moore, Brian. Another Meningitis Case Found on Campus
• Dawes, Jennifer. Boy Riding Bicycle Hit on Normal – Christopher Siegrist
• Walsh, Erica. Student Government Association Election Produces Low Voter Turnout
• Hall, Rex. Alcohol to be Served in Luxury Suites – Diddle Arena
• Training Needed to Avoid Rolling – Vans
• Grady, Brian. Editorial Cartoon – Rolling Vans
• NCAA Stepping on Mid-Major Schools
• Hiles, Tom. Naming Revenue Needed
• Murphy, Sean. Policing the Police
• Corbin, Brett. Concrete Canoe Team Rows to Sixth Regional Win
• Hoang, Mai. Dance Company Debuts …