Countries collection

The Countries Collection is comprised predominantly of printed materials such as reports, articles, newspaper clippings, biographical sketches, pamphlets, books, newsletters and periodicals, as well as some photographs, letters, and manuscript materials. The collection focuses on the status of women and feminist movements in over 140 countries. Related topics include sex roles, political rights, educational opportunities for women, and biographical information on such notable individuals as Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, Indira Gandhi, Eva Peron, and Joan of Arc. There is also information on women's organizations and conferences in various countries. The collection dates from 1540 to 2006 with the bulk of the material dating from circa 1920 to 1980. Countries more prominently represented include Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan and the United States.

Some unique materials include letters (in German) from a young Jewish women telling of deplorable conditions in Germany in the 1920s; sixteenth century marriage treaties written in old French; nineteenth century photographs of North American Indians (under Regions); a 1937 travel log of a woman in South Africa; a typescript for an Encyclopedia of Woman's History in Japan compiled by Baroness Ishimoto in the 1930s; and pamphlets on women's rights from various countries from the nineteenth and early twentieth century.

The materials are arranged alphabetically by country from Aden to Zimbabawe. There is a separate section at the end called World Regions which includes materials on Africa, Asia, and Latin America, etc. Where the scope of the materials warranted further arrangement, materials are usually arranged in the following categories: Biographical material, Clippings, Conferences and reports, General, Publications, and Women's Organizations. The U.S. section includes materials about women in U.S. history arranged by period including the Colonial period, the Civil War, and the 20th century, followed by files on U.S. regions and individual states.