Part of the Archives and Special Collections of Purdue University Libraries, the Susan Bulkeley Butler Women’s Archives began in 2006, the result of a generous one million dollar gift from Purdue alumna Susan Bulkeley Butler to document the lives and accomplishments of women associated with Purdue University or the state of Indiana. The mission of the Women's Archives is to collect, preserve, and make available primary source materials on women’s history in Indiana in order to recognize the contributions of Hoosier women to society. Special emphasis is placed on collecting the papers of women affiliated with Purdue University, the records of women’s organizations in the state, papers of women authors, and papers of women who succeeded in largely male dominated professions such as agriculture, aeronautics and astronautics, business, engineering, science, and technology. The goal of the Women’s Archives is to recognize the rich history of Indiana women, and to provide resources to teachers, students, researchers, and the public for learning about the key roles women have played in Indiana and Purdue’s history.
The Purdue Libraries Archives and Special Collections exist to serve as the institutional memory of the University, preserving the legacy of the individuals who contributed to the University's rich past. While the Archives unit currently holds the proud history of numerous Purdue University men, there is a serious scarcity in primary source documents of key pioneering women who helped shape Purdue and the alumnae who helped shaped society.
The Susan Bulkeley Butler Women's Archives seeks to recognize the important research and contributions of our women faculty and the outstanding contributions of our alumni. Currently, collection holdings of the Women's Archives include several key manuscript collections such as the papers of time and motion study pioneers Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, as well as the Amelia Earhart Papers, the largest and most comprehensive collection of archival material relating to the life and career of the famous aviator.
The Susan Bulkeley Butler Women's Archives collects personal papers, images, and artifacts relating to women affiliated with Purdue history and Indiana. Examples of types of materials which the Women's Archives is collecting include letters, photographs, diaries and journals, memoirs, scrapbooks, academic papers, audio and visual materials and more.
If you have materials relating to our collecting focus, and are interested in transferring them to the Susan Bulkeley Butler Women's Archive, please contact us via the following Online Form.
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