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William F. Ekstrom Library

Hidden Histories of the American Revolution: Women

A virtual book display featuring our current holdings for exploring the founding of our nation

The Daring Exploits of Elizabeth, Grace, and Rachel Martin

Lithograph of Grace and Rachel Martin disguised as Continental soldiers attacking two British soldiers and a courier in South Carolina’s Ninety-Six District The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library

U of L Resources

North American Women's Letters & Diaries
Includes the experiences of 1,325 women and 150,000 pages of diaries and letters. Collections of letters and diaries begun before 1950 are included until they are complete otherwise coverage runs from 1600s - 1950.
Gerritsen Collection -- Women's History Online, 1543-1945
Covers periodicals, monographs, and pamphlets on women's history, including feminism, the suffrage movement, and other women's issues. 1543 - 1945.

Noteworthy Documents

Women and spinning bees support boycott of British cloth. (1768)
Fifty-one women in Edenton, North Carolina sign a declaration to boycott British goods. (1774)
Ladies' Association of Philadelphia begins fund-raising for Continental Army. (1780)

Open Access Resources

Private Journal, kept during a portion of the Revolutionary War, for the Amusement of a Sister by Margaret (Hill) Morris

Women in the American Revolution: On the Homefront and on the Battlefield

Anna Maria Brodeau Thornton Papers

National American Woman Suffrage Association Records

When Women Lost the Vote- A Revolutionary Story, 1776 – 1807

Suggested Search Terms

Abigail Adams

Martha Washington

Mercy Otis

Molly Pitcher

Catharine Moore Barry

Nancy Hart

Phyllis Wheatley

Deborah Sampson

Prudence Wright

Lucy Knox

Catharine Greene

Sybil Ludington

Books

In the Words of Women by Louise V. North; Janet M. Wedge; Landa M. Freeman; Carol Berkin (Foreword by)
ISBN: 9780739150184
Publication Date: 2011-04-22
Eliza Hamilton by Tilar J. Mazzeo
ISBN: 9781501166303
Publication Date: 2018-09-18
Ladies of Liberty by Cokie Roberts
ISBN: 9780060782344
Publication Date: 2008-04-08
The Widow Washington by Martha Saxton
ISBN: 9780809097012
Publication Date: 2019-06-11
Women in the American Revolution by Barbara B. Oberg (Editor)
ISBN: 9780813942599
Publication Date: 2019-04-30
Abigail Adams: Letters (LOA #275) by Abigail Adams; Edith Gelles (Editor)
ISBN: 9781598534658
Publication Date: 2016-03-22

Podcasts

This episode, "Revolutionary War Women," features a discussion of the remarkable lives of Phyllis Wheatley and the Brewster Sisters.

Molly Pitcher - From Ten American Girls from History (1917)

The Gutenburg Press