Content area
Full text
RR 2013/072
Everyday Life and Women in America, c. 1800-1920
Adam Matthew Publications
Marlborough
URL: www.amdigital.co.uk/Collections/Everyday-Life.aspx
Last visited November 2012
Contact publisher for pricing information
Keywords Electronic media, Nineteenth century, United States of America, Women
Review DOI 10.1108/09504121311300587
Everyday Life and Women in America, c. 1800-1920 is a fascinating online collection of thousands of publications relating to the day-to-day life of women dating from the era and covering a wide range of topics from politics and race to fashion and cooking. The majority of the collection comes from the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture which is part of Duke University's Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collections Library. The New York Public Library has added its collection of the periodical, Town Topics, to this resource. According to the selection criteria given, "The fundamental parameters for the project were that it should provide a thematically unified but eclectic range of material published in the United States between 1800 and 1920" (www.everydaylife.amdigital.co.uk/introduction/selection_criteria.aspx).
The content in this resource is amazing and engrossing, comprising books, periodicals, pamphlets and broadsides. Since the vast majority of the materials included are from Duke University's Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collections Library, it is not surprising that many of the materials were published in the southern US. However, the collection does contain enough other items so as not to be too narrowly focused on the south. It is also not surprising that the coverage for many of the periodicals, especially the earlier titles, is spotty...