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Introduction
This guide connects you to resources that will help you in your search for information related to Black women's suffrage in Rhode Island.
The links below include primary sources and secondary sources. Even if a tool isn't specifically about Rhode Island, it may be useful for providing regional or national context.
Keep in mind that as you explore primary sources, language has changed over time. You may discover outdated language in your results, and you may also find useful information if you use that outdated terminology as you refine your search. For example, if you search for Black, you might also find results for African-American, and you might want to use that term in your search. In the early 1900s, other terms used for people of color included "Colored" and "Negro," and as a result, some of the primary source materials do use these terms.
- Petition from the R.I. Union Colored Women's ClubPrimary source document including the names of women from Rhode Island who advocated for granting women the right to vote. Use these names to search the primary source databases to locate more information.
Primary Sources
- Women and Social Movements Library (Alexander Street) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Focuses on women’s public activism globally, from 1600 to the present. Created through a collaboration with leading historians, the collection contains primary source documents and related scholarly essays interpreting these sources.
- What dates are covered? 1600 - Present.
- What else should I know? URI has these modules:
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000
Women and Social Movements, International, 1840-2010
Women and Social Movements in Modern Empires since 1820
Women and Social Movements: Development and the Global South, 1919–2019
- African American Historical Serials Collection (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Primary sources covering the history of African American life and religious organizations developed in conjunction with the American Theological Library Association (ATLA). Includes reports and annuals from African American religious organizations and social service agencies as well as African American periodicals.
- What dates are covered? 1829-1922
- African American Newspapers Series 1 and 2, 1827-1998 (America's Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? More than 350 U.S. newspapers covering a century and a half of the African American experience. Includes historically significant papers from more than 35 states and features many rare 19th-century titles.
What dates are covered? 1827-1998
- African Americans and Jim Crow: Repression and Protest, 1883-1922 (Newsbank) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? More than 1,000 fully searchable printed works by and about African Americans from the beginning of Jim Crow to post-World War I, sourced from the Library Company of Philadelphia's Afro-Americana Collection.
- What dates are covered? 1883-1922
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Boston Globe (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Page image and full-text index to The Boston Globe. Additional year of content added annually.
- What dates are covered? 1872 - 1990.
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times with Index (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Page image and full-text index to The New York Times. Additional year of content added annually.
- What dates are covered? 1851 - 2018.
- Providence Journal (Newsbank) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Articles from the Providence Journal. Searchable page images available for 1829-1982 and 2017 to present. Full text available from 1981 to present.
- What dates are covered? 1829 - Present.
- Rhode Island State Digital Archives
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The RI State Digital Archives provides access to primary source materials about suffrage in Rhode Island and African-American history. While most sources don't cover both topics, these materials can provide a broader context. - Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Collection (Rhode Island State Archives
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A subset of the electronic collection provided by the Rhode Island State Archives, this contains materials related to the suffrage movement in Rhode Island. - Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States
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Contains biographical information on a number of women involved in the effort to get women the right to vote.
Secondary Sources & Scholarly Articles
- America: History and Life with Full Text (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Citations to and the full text of hundreds of full-text history journals about the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Includes features such as the ability to search by time period.
- What dates are covered? 1955 to the present
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Archival journal collections in many disciplines, scholarly e-books, images, and primary source materials from institutions worldwide.
- What else should I know? Many journals in JSTOR have an embargo (called the "Moving Wall") on their most recent articles, generally ranging from 3-5 years. Other databases will provide more current results.
- PAIS Index (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Citations to journal articles, books, government publications, research & conference reports, publications of international agencies, and other materials from over 120 countries. Covers topics related to public affairs, public and social policies, and international relations. Updated monthly.
- What dates are covered? 1914 - Present.
- Suffrage School | The Long 19th Amendment (Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University)
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Lesson plans and videos that explore primary sources related to the fight to ensure women's suffrage. The site will be updated throughout 2020.