Women’s Bureau Historic Documents: Terminology and Language

When using historic documents, researchers need to be aware of the language and terminology used within the publications. One of the first considerations made in regard to the Women's Bureau collection was the type of language used and the implications it can have on research with modern perspectives. Understanding the historical context provides a foundation for when the documents were created and what socio-political issues were at play. Some of the common terms used within the Women's Bureau collection as well as the context in which they are used are listed below.

This collection is interpreted with patriarchal language. Women are spoken about in terms of their relationship to their husbands or children, oftentimes being referred to as wives or mothers as opposed to women. In various instances, single mother households are referred to as "fatherless households" and two parent households as "husband-wives" households. There are very few documents that do not mention marriage or children. 

Unless specified, the use of "women" within the collection is typically referencing white women. This is not only seen in the language, but the visual depiction of women in the documents. While there are documents pertaining to women of color, they have additional descriptors to differentiate between race and ethnicity. 

Women is typically used to denote those who are cis-gendered, rather than transgender individuals. Women is also used interchangeably to denote sex and gender. This language results from contemporary perspectives of sex and gender, as well as limited understanding of gender and sexual identities. 

Prior to the Civil Rights Movement, segregation was the legal standard and was reflected by Government Publications of the time periods. There are limited documents that acknowledge the intersectionality of individuals who were women and also people of color, something that is present across many GPO documents.

Women of Color

In the documents, the term "nonwhite" typically refers to Black women. In many of these documents, they are generally only referenced in comparison to white women. 

• Several terms were used to denote women of African descent, many of which are no longer considered to be appropriate ways to refer to this demographic.
• In the USU collection, Latinas/Latinx, Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders are also not directly referenced in the collection. While these demographics were represented in the United States at the time of the collections' publications, the USU Women's Bureau collection does not have recognizable documentation about them.

Indigenous Women

• Unlike other ethnic groups, the indigenous people of the North American continent are represented in Government Documents under their own cataloging classification.
• Under the FDLP system, documents related to women of indigenous populations are not represented under the Women's Bureau collection designation. Documents referencing indigenous women would be under the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• There is controversy over the use of the term "Indian" by the federal government, which is the term historically and currently used to refer to the indigenous populations of North America.
• For more information about government information related to indigenous peoples, see the Native American Studies LibGuide. 

This guide was created in collaboration with USU's ENGL 5400 course, Technology and Activism. The class, under the direction of Dr. Avery Edenfield, examined the role of ethics and social justice in technology use and facilitated independent research projects centered on investigating those relationships. This research guide was designed to explore the communication and language of the Women's Bureau documents within their historic period as well as their modern implications. 

Nicole Hurst has undergraduate degrees in English, with an emphasis in Technical Communications and Rhetoric, and Economics from Utah State University. During her time at USU, she was a student staff member of the Government Information Collection, part of Special Collections & Archives at the Merrill-Cazier Library. 

Vanessa Garcia Vazquez has undergraduate degrees in English, with an emphasis in Technical Communications and Rhetoric, and Criminal Justice from Utah State University. During her time at USU, she was a student staff member of the Government Information Collection, part of Special Collections & Archives at the Merrill-Cazier Library. 

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