This list is a work in progress. If you have resources on Indiana women's history to add, please email Jill Weiss Simins (jweiss@library.IN.gov) or Nicole Poletika (npoletika@library.IN.gov.
2021 HWW Mini Con: In Decemeber 2021, HWW and Indiana Humanities presented a mini con featuring leading women's history scholars. They discussed the significance of Indiana suffragist Grace Julian Clarke, how to use the Clarke digitized collection, researching Black Hoosier suffragists, and women's history resources available across the state. Watch here: https://youtu.be/SXFDD1YW33o
Women’s History Collections & Primary Sources
Women in Hoosier History Collection, Indiana State Library
- Grace Julian Clarke Scrapbooks (within this collection)
May Wright Sewall Collection, Indianapolis Public Library
The Indiana Woman newsletter (1890s), Indianapolis Public Library
Women’s History Collection, Indiana Historical Society
Madam C.J. Walker Collection (African American history), Indiana Historical Society
Notable Women of Muncie and Delaware County, BSU, Minnetrista, DCHS
Paulina T. Merritt Papers on the Indiana Women’s Suffrage Movement (1870s-1880s), Purdue University E-Archives
Susan Bulkeley Butler Women’s Archives, Purdue Libraries
Ball State University Women’s Club Records (1929-), BSU Digital Media Repository
Middletown Women’s History Collection (1880s-1930s), BSU Digital Media Repository
Athenaeum Damenverein & Women’s Auxiliary Records (1876-2007), IUPUI University Library
Womankind newsletter (1977-1983), IUPUI University Library
General Indiana Collections & Primary Sources
Bethel A.M.E. Collection (African American history), Indiana Historical Society
Indiana Memory (great for images)
Hoosier State Chronicles (digital newspaper database), Indiana State Library
Specifically African American newspaper The Indianapolis Recorder
Secondary Digital Resources
Digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, Indy Public Library/Polis Center
History Department Theses accessed ScholarWorks (especially note theses by Jennifer Kalvaitis and Jacqueline Swihart)
Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History, Indiana Historical Society
Indiana Magazine of History, IU ScholarWorks Journals
Indiana Women’s Suffrage Centennial Curriculum, Grades K-12, provided by Kisha Tandy
Indiana Women’s Suffrage Centennial website (brief history of Indiana suffrage movement + timeline)
In Mixed Company: Mapping Indiana Suffrage History
Preserving Women's Legacy Grants: Michigan City (Indiana Humanities and Michigan City Mainstreet Association)
Notable Women of Muncie and Delaware County (Ball State University)
Talking Hoosier History:
Complete overview of Indiana suffrage movement in a two-part podcast from Talking Hoosier History (transcription and audio available). These will be valuable resources for larger context and to reference organization names and
* Part One, Indiana Women’s Suffrage: The New Day Comes Slowly
* Part Two, Indiana Women’s Suffrage: The New Day Dawns
Indiana History Blog:
* A Silent Roar: Indiana Suffragists’ 1913 March to the Statehouse (suffrage and legislation; Woman’s Franchise League and Equal Suffrage Association; partial and full suffrage work)
* “Suffrage Up in the Air:” The Equal Suffrage Association’s 1912 Publicity Campaign (ESA; publicity; organization; hot air balloons!)
* Taking It to the Streets: Hoosier Women’s Suffrage Automobile Tour (Woman’s Franchise League; publicity; activism)
* “Leaving Party Politics to Man:” How Some Hoosier Women Worked Against Suffrage (anti-suffrage work; petitions)
* Intersection of War Work & Women’s Enfranchisement (WWI and suffrage; women’s clubs)
* Putting the Vote to Work: How Women Voters and Poll Workers Rallied during the 1920 Election (women and 1920 election; voting; Black vote)
* “A Petty Affair:” Grace Julian Clarke and the 1915 Campaign for the Indiana General Federation of Women’s Clubs Presidency (differences among suffrage views; women’s club work; bio of Grace Julian Clarke)
Other Articles by IHB Staff
"Sara Messing Stern: A Hoosier Voice for Women's Suffrage and Model of Applied Jewish Faith," Indiana Jewish History 46 (2021), 3-31. Download PDF.
