The Hroswitha Club and the Impact of Women Book Collectors

The untold story of women book collectors who used materials and connections to gain respect and access to male-only institutions.

The Hroswitha Club was a group of women book collectors who met from 1944–2004 in the Eastern United States. This Element makes their history accessible, focusing on how members shared knowledge and expertise, providing a space for legitimacy and self-growth in a period where women's access to formal education and academic institutions was limited.The Hroswitha Club was a group of women book collectors who met from 1944–2004 in the Eastern United States. Despite the fame of individual members like Henrietta Bartlett or Mary Hyde Eccles, there is no sustained study of the Club's work and legacy. This Element makes this history broadly accessible and focuses on how members shared knowledge and expertise and provided a space for legitimacy and self-growth in a period where women's access to formal education and academic institutions was limited. By making this network visible through an examination of archival records, library catalogs, and pamphlets, this project positions the Club as a case study for a more thorough examination of the ways that intersectional identities can make visible or obscure whose intellect, money, and resources have shaped the study of rare books in the United States.