Women in Leadership Database

Welcome to the Women in Leadership Database (WILD), created by the Margery Somers Foster Center. WILD is a portal to unique scholarly resources found at Rutgers University on the theme of women's leadership, in its broadest definition, and within an interdisciplinary context. This web site provides access to a selected group of Rutgers' archival and manuscript collections related to gender and women's studies. Within these collections can be found letters, photographs, ephemera, operational records, diaries, scrap books, video and audio tapes, and much more exemplified by the representative items located in the Digital Gallery. In making these materials known through this web site, we encourage scholars, students, teachers, and the interested public to investigate, through the study of primary sources, the many forms and roles women's leadership can take; arenas in which women participate as leaders; and leadership strategies employed by women.

WILD provides a forum for interdisciplinary collaboration in a virtual environment. This database currently comprises surveys of the records of eighty (80) centers, collections, departments, institutes, programs, projects, and repositories on the university's Camden, New Brunswick and Newark campuses. By using digital technology to increase access to Rutgers' archival collections related to women's history, WILD lays the foundation for broader accessibility to this rich treasure trove; supports teaching and research; and affords opportunities for the exploration and development of new electronic archival resources.

The materials found in WILD are for research use only and can not be reproduced for publication without written permission from the individual unit in which the material is housed.

Scholars and students interested in researching other aspects of gender and women's studies found in primary sources at Rutgers should examine the Guide to Women's Collections in Special Collections and University Archives; contact or visit other Rutgers University Libraries repositories; and contact the various organizations listed in WILD, who can provide permission to use their archives.

The project could not have been completed without the support and assistance from Rutgers University librarians and staff, especially those in Special Collections and University Archives and the Scholarly Communication Center. Further, the cooperation and help provided by personnel at each of the organizations included in the database was invaluable.

The WILD Project has been funded by a Rutgers University Strategic Resources Opportunities Award (SROA) allocated in 1999-2000. We gratefully acknowledge this support from the University President, his Cabinet, and the Committee for the Future.

WILD is the result of generative collaborations among a group of individuals who generously shared their varied expertise in its development. The members of the TEAM WILD were:

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