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Edit in/Save to Microsoft WordSophia Smith Collection
Smith College
Northampton, Massachusetts 01063
United States
Fax: (413) 585-2886
The Sophia at Smith Collection is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, archives, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women’s history. It was founded in 1942 to be the library’s distinctive contribution to the college’s mission of educating women. The staff regularly responds to reference requests by phone, mail, fax, e-mail, and in person. A picture I. D. is required on the first visit. Although it is not necessary to notify the reference staff in advance of a visit, researchers are encouraged to do so to be certain that the materials they wish to use are available. They may also request finding aids be sent in advance. Photocopying and reproduction of images and audiovisual materials are available upon request. For more information, visit our website.
The SSC consists of over 600 collections (almost 10,000 linear feet) of material in manuscript, print, photographic and audiovisual formats. The holdings document the historical experience of women in the United States and abroad from the colonial era to the present. Subject strengths include birth control and reproductive rights, women’s rights, suffrage, the contemporary women’s movement, U. S. women working abroad, the arts, the professions, and family life. Many of these collections are rich sources of visual, as well as manuscript and printed material.
Included are a number of collections and oral histories of women in medicine (physicians, nurses, public health specialists, medical missionaries, midwives, and medical researchers). For a detailed listing, see http://www.smith.edu/libraries/libs/ssc/subjmed.html.
The SSC also holds many more collections related to women’s health, particularly in the area of reproductive in the U. S. and internationally. These include the records of Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), New England Hospital for Women and Children, National Women’s Health Network, Midwives’ Alliance of North America, the Population and Reproductive Health Oral History Project, the Margaret Sanger Papers, and many others.