Background
Susan Groag Bell is a historian and Affiliated Scholar at the Stanford Institute for Research on Women and Gender. She has
published numerous books and articles on women's history. Working with Barbara Kanner, a Los Angeles historian and specialist
in British women's bibliography, volunteer readers were asked to read and assess autobiographies written or published by British
women between 1780 and 1950, completing detailed questionnaires (366 questions) about the women which were developed by Bell
and Kanner. "British" women were defined for the project as women who spent a considerable part of their lives in Britain,
including women who were born there but later lived or became citizens elsewhere. The dates were chosen to insure full coverage
of the 19th century. Roughly one thousand titles were included in the study. Thematic indices were used for such issues as
work patterns, professions, lifestyles, spirituality, and politics. The work was funded in part by an NEH grant. As of the
current date, 1997, research is still ongoing. Barbara Kanner has published a bibliography of the autobiographies and Bell
is continuing to supervise and organize the completion of the questionnaires.
Restrictions
Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. To obtain
permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections.