Digitizing the Sound and Sight of American Women's Work for Peace and Justice

vinyl LP, cassette tape, VHS tape and reel to reel tape

The Swarthmore College Peace Collection proudly announces the completion of a multi-year project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities to make over 600 audio and video digital files available publicly and freely.

Twentieth century American women were an important force in national and international citizen-led movements for peace and social justice. Their work benefitted all of humanity and demonstrated that ordinary women could play a significant role in public policy debates and become leaders of the efforts to spread social justice and democracy in the U.S. and around the world.

-Wendy E. Chmielewski, PhD., retired George R. Cooley Curator of the Swarthmore College Peace Collection

These historic recordings will help to broaden understanding of important voices that have not been heard for decades. The recordings document the work of activists who expanded the role of women't participation in American society and include the voices of:

  • U.S. Nobel Peace Prize winners Jane Addams and Emily Greene Balch
  • the first woman to serve in Congress, Jeannette Rankin
  • voices of women who worked for women's suffrage and in opposition to war.

The collection also includes recordings of activists Coretta Scott King, Bella Abzug, members of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and others who participated in the early second-wave feminist movement.