Interact with a curated selection of women’s magazines from the library’s collection in this hands-on activity covering more than 150 years of publishing in the United States.  

For your awe and interrogation, fifteen different women’s magazines from the 1850s to 2020s invite your analysis. Learn about milestone moments in the history of publishing women’s magazines from a Magazines and Newspapers Center librarian. Following a librarian-created checklist, trace concepts of gender roles, feminine beauty and fashion, suffrage, women’s liberation and feminism through the spread of magazines both commercial and independent. Identify variations in editorial tone and graphic representation and question the motivation of each publication for embodying its respective attributes. Receive guidance on accessing the print issues of each magazine featured in the workshop through the library’s holdings, as well as how to access and view digitized versions of the magazines through the library’s website.

You are encouraged to bring your smartphone to snap photos of magazine content to share with other participants through the course of the activity.

Magazine titles include: 

• Ladies’ American Magazine  
• Godey’s Lady’s Book  
• Ladies’ Home Journal  
• Good Housekeeping  
• Essence 
• McCall’s 
• Better Homes & Gardens 
• Up from Under  
• Bitch 
• Ms. Magazine 
• Harper’s Bazaar  
• Women's Sports & Fitness   
• Women’s Wear Daily 
• Vogue 
• Oprah Magazine