Women's History Month 2019: Who's Who

Are you in Who's Who? 

Sure, Who's Who is a biographical dictionary rather than a true directory but it contains pieces of information that are directory-like including contact information. So for our purposes we will include them in our study.

Now, women weren't always included. So they won't be found in all Who's Who books but the publication is still important for researchers.

Who's Who books are vanity publications and as such they include information from people invited to participate (and assumed to be willing to purchase a copy of the book). Not everyone is invited and of those invited not everyone contributes. So it can be a very select group.

One of the most important things to know is that the title Who's Who was used by various publishers. In England, the first Who's Who book was published in 1849. You can read more about this publication on Wikipedia.

Let's take a look at just a few examples.

Who's Who in America includes both men and women. What I love about this 1903-1905 edition is that it includes a necrology of people who died since January 1, 1895.




Most of us are familiar with Marquis' Who's Who books but there are other publishers that either focused on American women or included them in their general publication. For example, American Women: The Official Who's Who Among Women of the Nation was published by Richard Blank Publishing Company in California. Its 1935 edition includes over 6,000 entries. The introductory pages provide statistics regarding the state the women were born in and where the current home was at the time of printing. Residence in foreign countries, age, occupations are also included in these statistics. A copy of the blank questionnaire is also included.

From Hathi Trust

Additional Who's Who titles available on Hathi Trust can be found here.

Marquis' Who's Who of American Women was first published in 1958. In my copy from 1966 there are 22,200 names. 73 national women's organizations made "substantial contributions" which probably means that there members are well represented. Who are these organizations? You can see the list below.

Information in entries includes address, birth date, parents' names, academic career, occupation/s, publications, and memberships.

As I glance through the entries the famous are represented but there are also everyday women such as nurses, librarians, real estate agents, educators, and more. 

For genealogical research, a Who's Who listing can be valuable. The information it provides should lead you to seeking out other records. You can find Who's Who books on digitized book websites and even Ancestry.com. Marquis also has an institutional subscription that your local academic library may have.Who's Who books can focus on a state or even a city or county. And don't forget that they can also focus on an occupation or even a religion.