What does Barbie have in common with Eleanor Roosevelt? Both were among the subjects of exhibits in the West Dining Room on March 26 for the Women's History Month Reference Forum.
The Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room displayed a Barbie and Ken comic book, while the Manuscript Division showed a letter from Eleanor Roosevelt to Walter White, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Sheridan Harvey, reference librarian for women's studies, Humanities and Social Sciences Division, coordinated the program, which was sponsored by the Reference Forum and titled "Women's Studies Resources at the Library of Congress."
"Items on display ranged from an early 19th century, inch-high book from the Rare Book and Special Collections Division to a 1937 folio of a Vogue Patternbook from the Main Reading Room; from a 14th century manuscript from the Law Library to a recent women's magazine published in Bulgaria," Ms. Harvey said.
A cataloger visiting the exhibit said she was pleased to see a current copy of a Polish women's magazine at the European Reading Room table. She said she used to subscribe to the magazine before leaving Poland in 1961.
Another staff member remarked that he knew the Library had an "amazing comic book collection," and that for the first time he had an opportunity to see some issues.
The Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound (M/B/RS) Division provided the first CD made in the division's Recording and Duplication Laboratory. The most popular of the 13 selections on the disk were the voices of Sarah Bernhardt (1903) and Mary McLeod Bethune, Ms. Harvey said.
Shown at the same table were films and television programs from the Public Listening and Viewing Facility of M/B/RS. Another table featured sheet music from women composers, courtesy of the Music Division's Reader Services Section.
For researchers, there were handouts with bibliographic information about both the items on display as well as items available in the general collections. These ranged from guides to reference collections of primary source materials, which the Main Reading Room provided, to a Folk Archive Finding Aid from the American Folklife Center listing the recordings, manuscripts and ephemera of Zora Neale Hurston located in the Archive of Folk Culture and other divisions of the Library of Congress.
The exhibit was not restricted to the study of women in America. The European Division, the African and Middle Eastern Division and the Asian Division all displayed collections of books and periodicals from their respective regions.
Some of the more unusual items include Malaeska: The Indian Wife of the White Hunter by Ann B. Stephens, published in 1860. Provided by the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Malaeska was the first "dime novel." Business Reference Services provided How to Make Money, edited by Katherine Newbold Birdsall and published in 1903. Business Reference Services also handed out resource guides and displayed numerous magazines either devoted to or featuring women's business issues, such as Forbes and Working Woman.
The Law Library Reading Room displayed several old law books and biographies of Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Also on display was an illuminated manuscript on legal matters featuring a medieval depiction of women.
A collection of books at a Science Reading Room table featured women's contributions to science. These included scientific works written by women as well as biographies of women scientists. The Science Reading Room also provided a number of works and resource materials on women's health issues.
Whether it was collections of historic photographs from the Prints and Photographs Division or collections of genealogies from the Local History and Genealogy Reading Room, the Women's History Reference Month Reference Forum had a little something of everything for everyone.
