By: Ashley Walter

As the spring semester comes to a close, so many of us hang our heavy doctoral regalia in the back of our closets and start packing for research trips. It might be summer “break,” but for most of us, it’s no break at all.

Thanks to the American Journalism Historians Association, Joseph McKerns Research Grant, and the Hazel Dicken-Garcia Research Grant, I was able to visit the Library of Congress this past May. Specifically, I worked with the Washington Post Historical Collection, which spans from 1877 to 2015. 

This research trip helped to support my manuscript tentatively titled Settling: Women Who Sued the News, which is contracted with the University of Massachusetts Press Journalism and Democracy book series. Stemming from my doctoral dissertation, the book examines sex discrimination lawsuits at major U.S. national press organizations during the 1970s.

In response to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which banned sex and race discrimination in the workplace, U.S. women working at print news organizations sued for equal rights throughout the decade. My research traces the history of class-action sex discrimination suits against news organizations at some of the most prestigious news outlets in America. Women sued the news at the Washington Post, Associated Press, New York Times, Register Publishing Co., Detroit News, Reader’s Digest, Time, Life, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, and Newsweek.

I’ve spent the last seven years visiting archives and conducting oral history interviews for my book. While I was able to capture the oral histories of several women who worked at and sued the Washington Post for sex discrimination, I was hopeful that the archive would include legal documents and pay wage data.

Unfortunately, I came across many “archival silences” at the Library of Congress. The Washington Post Collection generally focused on men, who for decades ran and operated the newspaper. For example, I was thrilled to find a folder in the archive vaguely titled, “Lawsuits.” But the lawsuits in the box contained information on Watergate, the Pentagon Papers, and defamation suits. Indubitably, these are important historical documents, and I am very glad that they are housed in an archive. But where are the women, I kept asking myself. I was grateful to access a few key lawsuit documents. But the most information I found about a woman’s life was about a Washington Post newswoman who won a beauty contest called the Front Page Girl in 1943. 

To be sure, I left the archive with threads for future media history projects as well. But I am reminded of the importance of oral history interviewing to help overcome stories that are missing from traditional brick and mortar archives.

Logistics and Reading Room Reservations:

If you plan to visit the Library of Congress, you might be disappointed to learn that you won’t be in the picturesque “main library” officially known as the Thomas Jefferson Building. Rather, you will be down the street at the Manuscript Reading Room inside of the James Madison Memorial Building. Be sure to arrive early to file paperwork and request a library card, which you need to access the Reading Room. 

Additionally, if you are interested in accessing the Washington Post Historical Collection, it’s important to note that most of the materials in the collection are stored offsite. This means, a Library of Congress archivist told me, you’ll want to request materials at least two weeks in advance of your visit.

Image: The front of the Library of Congress James Madison Memorial Building, which houses the Manuscript Reading Room.

Ashley Walter is an assistant professor of journalism and media at Saint Louis University.