Clara Goldberg Schiffer print collection documenting working women, 1861-2000 (inclusive), 1861-1897 (bulk)
Overview
19th century prints of women's work in the United States and abroad.
Dates
- Creation: 1861-2000
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1861-1897
Language of Materials
Materials in English.
TERMS OF USE
Access. Unrestricted.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright. Harvard University makes no representation that it is the owner of the copyright in any part of this collection; permission to publish must be obtained from the owner(s) of the copyright (the author or her/his transferees, heirs, legatees, or literary executors).
Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.
Extent
1.58 linear feet (1 folio+ box, 1 half file box)The collection consists primarily of electrotype and photomechanical prints, largely from the 19th century pictorial press, photographs, clippings, and pamphlets illustrating women's work in the United States and abroad. Women are depicted in the traditional occupations open to them: agriculture, factories, laundry, needlework, and school teaching. Additionally they are shown selling at United States Sanitary Commission fairs, cooking, nursing, studying design, and taking dictation on Edison's phonograph. A few fine art prints are also included.
The collection is arranged in three series:
Series I, Prints of United States Subjects (#1F+B.1-1F+B.9), consists of illustrations of women's employment from Harper's Weekly, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, The Courier Journal, The Saturday Evening Post, Appleton's Journal of Medicine, Christian Herald and Signs of Our Times, Our Daily Fare, and The Inland Printer. A few fine art woodcuts are also included.
Series II, Prints of Non-United States Subjects (#1F+B.10), consists of scenes of women workers in France and Great Britain.
Series III, Other formats (#2.1-2.3), consists of pamphlets and photographs of women suffragists, a woman aircraft worker during World War II, and a telephone operator.
These prints are addenda to a larger collection (Gr-10) Schiffer gave to the Schlesinger Library between 1988 and 1997.
BIOGRAPHY
Clara Goldberg Schiffer (A.B. Radcliffe College, 1932 and M.A. George Washington University, 1939), health program analyst for the United States Department of Heath and Human Services, developed an interest in the history of women and work, and over the years compiled a large collection of images of women's work culled from the 19th century pictorial press.
ARRANGEMENT
The collection is arranged in three series:
- Series I. Prints of United States Subjects (#1F+B.1-1F+B.9)
- Series II. Prints of Non-United States Subjects (#1F+B.10)
- Series III. Other formats (#2.1-2.3)
Physical Location
Collection stored off site: researchers must request access 36 hours before use.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession numbers: 98-M185, 2000-M108, 2002-M17, 2003-M47, 2003-M138, 2004-M100, 2019-M22
These prints were given to the Schlesinger Library by Clara Goldberg Schiffer between October 1998 and August 2004, and by Lois Schiffer in February 2019.
Processing Information
Processed: November 2002
By: Jane S. Knowles
Updated and additional materials added: September 2019
By: Jenny Gotwals
Genre / Form
Geographic
- Boston (Mass.)--Pictorial works
- Louisiana--Pictorial works
- New York (N.Y.)--Pictorial works
- Philadelphia (Pa.)--Pictorial works
Topical
- African-American women--Pictorial works
- Charities--United States--Pictorial works
- Childcare workers--Pictorial works
- Dressmakers--United States--Pictorial works
- Factories--Pictorial works
- Laundresses--Pictorial works
- Needleworkers--Pictorial works
- Nurses--Pictorial works
- Women artists--Pictorial works
- Women cannery workers--Pictorial works
- Women household employees--United States--Pictorial works
- Women in agriculture--Pictorial works
- Women in charitable work--Pictorial works
- Women in education--Pictorial works
- Women teachers--Pictorial works
- Women--Employment--France--Pictorial works
- Women--Employment--Great Britain--Pictorial works
- Women--Employment--United States--Pictorial works
- Working class--Great Britain--Pictorial works
- Working class--United States--Pictorial works.
- Title
- Schiffer, Clara Goldberg, collector. Clara Goldberg Schiffer print collection documenting working women, 1861-2000 (inclusive), 1861-1897 (bulk): A Finding Aid
- Author
- Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- sch00212
Repository Details
Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository
The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.