Skip to Main Content

Female Ancestors: Finding Women in Local History and Genealogy

Personal Papers & Photographs

Iowa Women's Relief Corps. Circa 1890. Liljenquist Family collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

When evaluating manuscript and photograph collections, it is particularly important to consider the ownership history, original order, and context. Search not only for your female ancestors in specific documents and images, but also for those related to the people, places, and events that are part of their story.

Some collections may have traveled to unexpected places, so search broadly at all levels: local, state, national.

Individual and Family Records

Personal papers such as family bibles, diaries, letters, photographs, postcards, scrapbooks, and other unofficial documents may be one-of-a-kind records that prove essential relationships or provide rare insights into the day-to-day lives of our ancestors. These items are often privately owned. Study the family tree to find descendants who may have inherited. Also reach out to the relatives of your ancestors’ friends and neighbors who may have preserved items that include your family.

Organizational or Institutional Records

Equally important are the organizational records of the churches, schools, employers, and social clubs or causes where your ancestors spent so much time, found comradery, and contributed their talents. For surviving institutions, records may still be on site in their current offices or archives. For those that are no longer in operation, contact area libraries or historical societies that may have accepted the records. If the organization was part of a larger network, reach out to nearby branches or to regional, state, or national headquarters.

Social Movements

For the stories of women, a particularly important category of organizational records are those related to the social movements of her day. Often barred from the workplaces, pulpits, or podiums where public messages might be heard, women found their voices through roles and leadership in social causes. Women utilized their talents and learned new skills, while advocating for such causes as abolition, temperance, and suffrage, that they could use to fight for the rights of others as well as themselves. Conversely, some women worked equally hard to advance their abilities by fighting against these movements. The positions and actions our female ancestors took, for or against these cultural shifts, are important parts of their stories.

Search Library of Congress Collections

Selected Resources

Library of Congress subject specialists have created Blogs that provide background and resources for further study.

Labor

Photographs as Historical Records

Social Life

Social Movements

The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.

African American Experiences

Archival Collections

Labor

Social Movements

Abolition

Suffrage

Temperance

The Library of Congress Digital Collections contain a wide variety of primary source materials that may be searched for items related to the lives and times of our female ancestors, including government documents, manuscripts, maps, newspaper articles, and photographs. Search for historical context to set the scene and better understand her world, as well as pieces specifically about her life.

African American Experiences

Labor

Social Movements

Library of Congress subject specialists have created Research Guides that provide background and resources for further study.

Archival Collections

Labor

Photographs

Social Movements

In the digital age, it is easier than ever for documents and photographs to be shared online. You may discover that the family, neighbors, or repositories you are reaching out to have posted some or all of their holdings to public web sites. Below is a selection of highlighted databases to demonstrate the kind of material you may find online.

The subscription resources marked with a padlock are available to researchers on-site at the Library of Congress. If you are unable to visit the Library, you may be able to access these resources through your local public or academic library.