The Archives has a number of collections that document the many roles of women in southern Appalachia. Included are materials that focus on women as writers, nurses, coal miners, educators, aviators, union organizers, and community activists.

Browse our Suggested Reading List for books of interest.

Manuscripts

Jessie A. Ackermann Collection
Includes correspondence, scrapbook, newspaper clippings, photographs, and other printed matter related to the work of this early temperance movement leader and missionary.

Anne W. Armstrong Collection
Contains an autobiographical fragment written by Armstrong, author of This Day and Time, reflecting her early life in Knoxville, Tenn., 1885-1902.

Elma Lillian Rankin Beeson Papers
Contains newspapers clippings, class record books, and photographs related to Beeson's career as a member of the original faculty at East Tennessee State University, along with photographs and a diary of a 1913 European trip.

Gladys Addington Brewer Papers
Contains newspaper clippings, correspondence, postcards, photographs, poems, essays, and other memorabilia reflecting Brewer's life and career, including stints as a teacher and a civilian hostess at Camp Forrest, Tennessee during World War II.

Christine Burleson Papers
Consists of a grade book related to Burleson's career as a professor of English at East Tennessee State University, as well as a notebook and essays as a student at Vassar College. Located in the University Archives.

Coal Employment Project Records
Consists of records documenting the operations of this organization seeking to promote improved working conditions and hiring practices for women coal miners, including correspondence, reports, handbooks, photographs, clippings, financial records, grant proposals, and other matter.

Council of Nursing of Upper East Tennessee Collection
Includes correspondence, financial records, and publications related to the organization's efforts to foster nursing care in the region.

Council on Appalachian Women Collection
Includes correspondence, minutes, papers, grant applications, publications, photographs, and recordings documenting the efforts of the council to promote the needs of women in the Appalachian region.

Fannie A. Fain Diaries
Consists of photocopies of two handwritten diaries (plus transcriptions) kept by Fain, a Sullivan Co., Tenn. resident, between 1863-98. The diaries provide insightful accounts of daily life in the area.

Mary Louise Pearre Hamilton Collection
Consists of photocopies of a diary written by Mary Louise Pearre (1863-64) of Williamson Co., Tenn., and letters received from her fiancé, John Hall Hamilton (1861-65).

Joseph Louis and Jane Dulaney Hilbert Papers
Consists of photographs documenting Hilbert's career (1936-70) as an early East Tennessee aviator and businesswoman, operating Appalachian Flying Service with her husband, Louis Hilbert.

Johnson City (Tenn.) Council of Garden Clubs Collection
Consists of scrapbooks, correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, publications, and photographs related to the council's interest in civic beauty and roadside development projects.

Jonesborough Woman's Christian Temperance Union Collection
Consists of a ledger (1895-99) containing the minutes of the temperance group, newspaper clippings, and its' constitution.

Marat Moore Collection
Papers of this Johnson City, Tenn. native includes recordings and transcriptions of interviews conducted with women coal miners, as well as correspondence and photographs.

Jeanne M. Rasmussen Collection
Includes correspondence, writings, photographs, and other materials documenting Rasmussen's interests in contemporary Appalachian life and culture, particularly as it relates to the Appalachian coal fields.

June M. Rostan Papers
Contains correspondence, recordings, photographs, scrapbooks, and other material documenting Rostan's work with the Coal Employment Project, with other grassroots organizations, and her union organizing activities.

Eleanor Robertston Scates Tape
An oral history interview focusing on Scates' travels and experiences as an educator at East Tennessee State University. Located in the University Archives.

Southern Songbirds: The Women of Early Country and Old-Time Music Tapes
Consists of music by and interviews with early country music performers Hazel Dickens, Wilma Lee Cooper, Patsy Montana, Ola Belle Reed, Matokie Slaughter, Martha Carson, the Carter Family, Etta Baker, Jean Ritchie, Phyllis Marks, Ramona Jones, the Powers Family, and the Girls of the Golden West.

Melanie L. Sovine and Sue Smith Collection
Consists of recorded interviews and transcript for the radio program, "'Been a Long Time Travelin': Three Primitive Baptist Women," focusing on the Kentucky women's religious faith and practice.

Appalachian Photographic Archive

The Appalachian Photographic Archive has photographs on the following subjects: Reece, Louise (Mrs. B. Carroll); Women; Women Air Pilots.

Suggested Reading from Special Collections

The following is a list of selected titles relating to women. For a complete listing, consult Sherrod Libary Online Catalog.

Ackermann, Jesse. Australia From a Woman's Point of View. 1913.

Coles, Robert and Jane Hallowell Coles. Women of Crisis: lives of struggle and hope. 1989.

Dykeman, Wilma. Tennessee Woman, an infinite variety. 1993.

Evans, Carol Jo and Helen Brown, eds. Then and Now: the women of Englewood's Textile Mills. 1993.

Kahn, Kathy. Hillbilly Women. 1980.

Kamerman, Shelia B., et. al. Maternity Policies and Working Women. 1983.

Lord, Sharon B. and Carolyn Patton-Crowder. Appalachian Women: a learning/teaching guide. 1979.

Miles, Emma Bell. The Spirit of the Mountains. 1975 (reprint).

O'Sullivan, Judith and Rosemary Gallick. Workers and Allies: female participation in the American trade union movement, 1824-1976. 1975.

Page, Linda G. and Eliot Wigginton, eds. Aunt Arie: a Foxfire portrait. 1983.

Rogers, Lucille. Light From Many Candles: a history of pioneer women in education in Tennessee. 1960.

Taylor, A. Elizabeth. The Woman Suffrage Movement in Tennessee. 1978.

Wharton, Mary C. Doctor Woman of the Cumberlands. 1972. Women of the Rural South. 1986.