International Women's Day Cartographic Resources

Her Story:  Cartographic Resources for Women’s Studies Available from Ball State University Libraries

Today is International Women’s Day, and March is Women’s History Month.  The Ball State University Libraries’ GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) created a special collection of online maps for Women’s History Month available from the Libraries’ Cardinal Scholar institutional repository.  The collection includes maps about women working in agriculture, women heads of state, women in tertiary teaching, the travels of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the life of Madam C.J. Walker, and countries with high breast cancer rates.  And a map commemorating the Girls Professional Baseball League is also available from the GRMC.  (Type “women in the world map” in the search box in Cardinal Scholar to access the available cartographic resources).

The GRMC also created a map celebrating women’s history in Indiana to commemorate the state’s bicentennial anniversary.  Her Story: Indiana Women’s History (above, click to enlarge) marks the accomplishments of Indiana women in politics, human rights, education, the arts, and sports.  The map features Helen Gougar, a teacher and newspaper owner from Lafayette, who became the first woman to argue before the Indiana Supreme Court in 1895 when she demanded her right to vote.  Toni Stone, Connie Morgan, and Mamie “Peanuts” Johnson made history playing baseball for the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro League.  And U.S. Representative Katie Hall of Gary is commemorated as the leader of the campaign to establish the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday.  The map is currently displayed in the front windows of the GRMC as the “Map of the Month.”

The GRMC and the Atlas Collection on the second floor of Bracken Library also feature cartographic resources depicting women’s issues.  The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World was published in 2009 and features maps about families, birthrights, women’s health issues, employment, resources, power, and education.  The Routledge Historical Atlas of Women in America, Atlas of Firsts, Atlas of Anthropology, and many others also include maps describing women’s issues.

For more information about cartographic resources for Women’s History Month, please contact the GRMC at 765-285-1097.