Deeper exploration of women’s roles in social activism is reshaping classroom experiences

When the concept of a minimum wage emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was framed as a women’s issue. Women dominated the lowest-paid sectors — such as garment work and domestic service — where exploitation was rampant. Progressive reformers argued that women needed “living wages” to protect their health and morality. In fact, early laws often applied only to women and minors, reinforcing gender norms that assumed men were breadwinners with bargaining power, while women required state intervention to avoid destitution and “immoral” alternatives.

Insights like these engage and surprise students in history courses. Primary sources such as letters, newsletters, journals and magazines can be powerful keys to their discovery. The recent ACRL Choice and ProQuest webinar Innovative Teaching: Exploring Women’s Histories with Newly Digitized Primary Source Archives and Media explores how digitized collections are energizing classrooms.

Dr. Patricia Schechter (Portland State University), Dr. Jill Jensen (University of Redlands) and Dr. Carrie Baker (Smith College) each presented newly digitized primary sources that expand how history is taught and researched. Their presentations emphasized usability, accessibility and the value of working directly with original materials.

Patricia Schechter: Engaging Students Through Surprising Discoveries

Dr. Schechter is editor of Women and Social Movements in the U.S. Since 1600, a digital journal of curated primary sources on topics like suffrage, labor and Black women’s activism. She described it as a space where students learn to question and interpret historical evidence.

She said that students often begin with broad topics, like “minimum wage,” and discover unexpected connections. “The idea of a minimum wage was a woman’s issue,” she said, reframing a familiar policy debate through the lens of women’s activism. With more than 250,000 pages, the collection could seem overwhelming, but she showed how search tools like hover-over previews and keyword highlighting help students move from general interest to focused inquiry.

Jill Jensen: Making Women’s Global History Visible

Dr. Jensen presented on the newly digitized Irene Tinker Papers, which are part of the broader collection Women and Social Movements: Development and the Global South, 1919–2019. That collection documents decades of global activism, development policy and transnational organizing. Dr. Jensen focused on materials found specifically within the Tinker Papers, including content from India’s Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), to show how grassroots efforts connect across regions and time periods.

“These materials show that by 1975, women’s issues were really global issues — about development, peace, opportunity and rights,” she said. The papers include field notes, letters and newsletters that reflect the lived experiences of women working in informal economies and policy spaces.

Dr. Jensen highlighted how digitisation serves as an important means of preservation. She explained that a single archival box contained around 5,000 pages, which are now available online. By retaining the original organization and context of the materials, users can experience the archives in a way that closely mirrors handling the physical folders, enhancing the sense of direct engagement with the primary sources.

Carrie Baker: How Access to Archives Changes the Classroom Experience

At Smith College, Dr. Baker teaches in an archives concentration program where students learn how collections are built, how oral histories are gathered and how to interpret original materials. The program brings archivists, donors and researchers to the classroom to help students understand the full lifecycle of archival content, from creation to digitization. Dr. Baker said, “We have a lot of conversations about the digitization of archives and the importance as far as accessibility.”

Digitization of the Ms. Magazine Archive has changed how Dr. Baker teaches. Previously, she relied on anthologies or selected reprints to assign key articles. Now, students access the full run of Ms., search original publications and analyze how issues were framed at the time, “Now I can have my students go back to the source and see how the issue was portrayed in the original magazine,” said Dr. Baker.

This access has also reshaped assignments. Students now select a theme, such as workplace equity or media representation, and trace how coverage evolved over decades. They examine how language and public discourse shifted, using primary sources to connect historical framing with contemporary questions.

Why Digital Primary Sources Matter

All speakers emphasized how digitization amplifies the impact of archival work. Digitized archives expand access to rare and unique materials, inviting deeper exploration and discovery. Students work directly with original sources, sharpening their research skills and linking historical perspectives with current questions. For educators and librarians, these collections offer a practical way to integrate archival content into teaching and research, turning history from something to read into something to actively investigate.

Watch the full webinar Innovative Teaching: Exploring Women’s Histories with Newly Digitized Primary Source Archives and Media to hear directly from the speakers. Trial access to the featured collections is available through ProQuest Digital Collections.

All three content sets featured in the webinar, Women in Social Movements in the U.S. Since 1600, Women and Social Movements: Development and the Global South, 1919–2019, and the Ms. Magazine Archive, are part of ProQuest One Women’s Studies included in ProQuest Digital Collections.