World Center for Women's Archives

For five years, from 1935-1940, the World Center for Women’s Archives (WCWA) collected materials focused on the historical accomplishments of the modern woman. The organization was founded by Mary Ritter Beard (feminist, historian) and Rosika Schwimmer (Hungarian feminist, author), with the goal, according to Beard to, “see this Center established and the finest possible collection of records assembled - records of individual struggle, aspiration and social achievement (or failure if such there be) and records of organised struggle, aspiration and achievement (or failure if such be)."

The membership of the WCWA included notable women such as Mrs. Vincent Astor, Alice Stone Blackwell, Fannie Hurst, Alice Paul, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Eleanor Roosevelt. The offices of the organization were located in Manhattan at 285 Madison Avenue, and the working members created exhaustive lists of information about professional women, their accomplishments, and professional organizations with whom they were affiliated. Due to lack of funding, the WCWA was disbanded in 1940, and the materials the organization compiled disseminated to various organizations and universities, including Connecticut College, Radcliffe College, Smith College, and the American Association of University Women.

The WCWA collection at Connecticut College consists of papers generated by the organization and includes correspondence (carbon and originals), research materials, 1500+ notecards, and numerous reprints focused on American women of science. The collection also includes approximately 30 radio scripts from the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theater Radio Division broadcasts, "Women in the Making of America" and "Gallant American Women." Members of the WCWA assisted in the research for the broadcasts