twentieth-century history

An Exploration of Women’s Liberation: Insights From Gale Primary Sources

by

│By Poppy Sargent, Gale Ambassador at the University of Exeter│

Exploring women’s liberation throughout the years reveals a journey of bravery, courage, and transformation. From the beginning of the women’s liberation movement to the twentieth century, women have held a powerful position in society, whether this be in the workplace, politics, or simply social aspects of society.

Leveraging insights from Gale Primary Sources, this exploration delves into the ways in which women’s liberation was advertised, highlighting key events which led up to the result of women’s suffrage in the United States, various leaflets and posters used to advertise suffrage, and how these can be used to influence modern day suffrage articles. Gale’s extensive archives highlight the crucial role of the media in advertising women’s suffrage.

Read more

Representations of Girls in History of Disabilities: Disabilities in Society, Seventeenth to Twentieth Century

by

│By Lucy McCormick, Gale Ambassador at the University of Birmingham│ Earlier this year, Gale launched History of Disabilities: Disabilities in Society, Seventeenth to Twentieth Century – a rich digital archive of monographs, manuscripts, and ephemera, sourced from the New York Academy of Medicine. This offers countless avenues for exciting historical research. To provide an example, … Read more

A Window Into Decolonization: Perspectives From Formerly Colonised and Commonwealth Regions

by

│By Aiman Urooj, Gale Ambassador at the University of Delhi│

For scholars deeply studying decolonisation, access to primary sources and uncovering the voices that influenced anti-colonial movements is indispensable.

Archival collections consisting of historical documents like political pamphlets, newsletters, and institutional press releases provide unique insight into the socio-political and intellectual struggles of the independence movement. In that line, Gale Primary Sources’ Decolonization: Politics and Independence in Former Colonial and Commonwealth Territories digital archive proves to be an essential asset for researchers intending to understand the real dynamics of the revolutionary period.

Read more

A Century of Change: How Soviet Union Policies Reshaped Kazakhstan’s Demographics

by

|By Alisher Romankul, Year 11 Student at NIS of Kyzylorda, Kazakhstan|

It is believed that the Kazakhs, who lived a nomadic culture for hundreds of years, faced a number of demographic crises in the twentieth century under the rule of the USSR. Since the beginning of industrialisation in the Soviet Union and before the collapse of the USSR, the ethnic and demographic situation in the country has changed dramatically.

This blog post will explore industrialisation, the famine of 1931-1933, deportation in the Kazakh SSR, World War II, and the development of virgin lands and discuss how the collapse of the USSR affected the population in the country.

Read more

Sacred Returns: The American Bison, Prophecy and History  

by

│By Lindsay Whitaker-Guest, Associate Editor│

In June 2024, an extremely rare white bison (buffalo) calf was sighted in Yellowstone National Park causing great excitement amongst visitors, wildlife researchers, and most significantly local Native American people.

The birth is ecologically and culturally important, but above all symbolises the momentous recovery of the American bison, which according to Native American traditions is an indication of a brighter future. But why has the birth of this adorable creature been so celebrated? And what might this mean for the future of the American bison?   

Read more

The Untold Story of the 700 Orphaned Polish Children of New Zealand

by

│By Damian Almeida, Training and Digital Communications Executive, Gale│

In the midst of World War II, there are many stories of bravery, loss, and unexpected kindness. One such story that often goes untold is that of the 700 orphaned Polish children who found refuge in New Zealand. This is the story of their journey, the circumstances that led to their displacement, and how New Zealand became a sanctuary for these young survivors.

Read more

China and Australia: Trade, Migration, and Politics in the Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Centuries

by

│By Liping Yang, Senior Manager, Academic Publishing│

The Flodden was a barque or three-masted sailing ship originally constructed in Britain and later sold to Australia and registered in Melbourne. On June 22, 1883, the ship departed from Fremantle, Western Australia, bound for Shanghai, carrying a cargo of 806 tons of sandalwood.

Unfortunately, on August 23, the ship ran aground near Nanhui, which is now a district of Shanghai. The captain, William Smith, made the decision for the crew to abandon the ship the following day and it was looted by some locals.

Read more

Kowloon Walled City: An Accident of Hong Kong History

by

│By Masaki Morisawa, Senior Product Manager│

In the February 1991 issue of the National Geographic there is an aerial photo of a strange architectural structure in Hong Kong. What at first glance seems like a giant post-apocalyptic fortress, on closer examination reveals itself to be a jumble of many small buildings crammed so close together that they seem to form a single mass.

This was Kowloon Walled City, an infamous slum district within colonial Hong Kong for nearly a century until it was torn down 30 years ago in 1994. Its haunting visual appearance, and the extreme density and anarchy of life within its compound continues to capture many people’s imagination today, as evidenced most recently in the huge success of an action movie set in the now legendary location.

Read more

Studying Colonialism in Complementary Archives: Nineteenth Century Collections Online and Decolonization

by

│By Louis Venter, Gale Ambassador at the University of the Free State│

If you ask any seasoned historian what makes historical research unique, they will emphasise the crucial role of primary sources, which define and distinguish history from other forms of academic writing. In an ever-digitising world, historians can now access digital scans of genuine archival material from anywhere, eliminating the need to travel to distant archives, and making research more efficient.

Bringing together primary sources from multiple archives can enhance one’s research, and Gale Primary Sources offers two key complementary digital archives that can be used in tandem to study colonialism – Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Europe and Africa, Colonialism and Culture and Decolonization: Politics and Independence in Former Colonial and Commonwealth Territories.

Read more

Honouring Madam C.J. Walker: Using Gale Primary Sources to Represent Black Women’s Resistance to Racist American Beauty Standards

by

│By Tabetha Wood, Gale Ambassador at Durham University│

As I approach the final term of my history degree, I feel particularly passionate about the empowerment of minority groups through a representation of their past experiences. I saw my dissertation as an opportunity to fuel this passion and by investigating the ‘whiteness’ of American beauty standards between 1945-60, I represented the adversity African American women encountered in this realm, an obstacle that women of colour continue to face today.

Read more