This fourth instalment of the multi award-winning Women’s Studies Archive program, which has won a Platinum Award at the 2023 Modern Library Awards, Female Forerunners Worldwide, focuses on individual women and organizations around the world who have broken new paths in society through business, social reform, popular culture, health care, and more.

Covering over three centuries, the primary sources included span from 1759 to 2002. Key highlights include contributions of African American women trailblazers; nursing journals from around the world (including Britain, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean); popular magazines from Australia and New Zealand; and collections concerning the supernatural and crime.

This resource supports students and scholars working in the fields of women’s history, gender studies, and social history by enabling research on key topics such as civil rights, political activism, literature, women’s experience of prison and the justice system, medicine, work and professional representation, racism and slavery, spiritualism, missionary work, and periodicals.

"A niche primary source collection with unique documents highlighting significant and lesser-known women trailblazers that pays particular attention to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Several of the collections bring attention to marginalized voices, including those who were enslaved or imprisoned. It is a solid selection for institutions that support advanced research in the humanities, history, gender studies, and other scholarly areas with a focus on women’s lived experiences." – Reviewed for Library Journal by Gricel Dominguez, a Librarian at Florida International University