Duke University Acquires a Vast Archive of Women’s Historical Materials

Virginia Woolf’s writing desk.

The Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture at the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, has received an extensive collection of books and other items documenting women’s history from the Renaissance to the modern era. The collection was assembled over a period of 45 years by Lisa Unger Baskin.

The Baskin collection includes more than 8,600 rare books and thousands of other documents including manuscripts, journals, and artifacts. The earliest item is a document on a home for women in Italy that is dated 1240. Included in the collection is the writing desk used by Virginia Woolf, correspondence between Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, handwritten notes by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and a large collection of the personal papers of Emma Goldman.

Naomi Nelson, associate university librarian and director of the Rubenstein Library stated that “we pride ourselves on our signature collections in women’s history and culture, African American history, the history of medicine, human rights, documentary arts, advertising and economics — all areas Lisa has attended to in building her collection. We look forward to collaborating with her as we add to the Lisa Unger Baskin Collection and share it with the public. ”

Dr. Nelson is a graduate of Duke University. She holds a master of library and information science degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. in history from Emory University in Atlanta.