Special Collections

The Memorial Library Department of Special Collections includes the William B. Cairns Collection of American Women Writers, 1650-1940. For information on this collection as well as other English-language holdings in literature, linguistics, and film studies, contact the Special Collections Department at askspecial@library.wisc.edu. The Department also has an extensive collection and gay and lesbian periodicals and pamphlets from Germany.

The Reference Collection in the Women’s Studies Librarian’s Office, Memorial Library, contains Gender and Women’s Studies bibliographies, biographical dictionaries, encyclopedias, indexes, and other related reference works. Topics include history, literature, health, psychology, work, feminist theory, social issues, language, religion, sports, and women’s studies as a field. There are also gender and women–related reference resources in the Memorial Library Reference Department.