The Tradeswomen Archives Project

The California State University Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), a public
state university in the United States of America, has been developing
a unique record of women in non-traditional occupations. By
non-traditional, they refer to the experiences of women in blue-collar
jobs such as construction trades, factory, building, and refinery
maintenance, transportation, long shore workers, fisherwomen, women in military trades and related fields. Although the archives has a North American focus, it includes items from women around the world and hopefully will expand its international community.This effort was initiated by tradeswomen themselves.

The Collection

The Tradeswomen Archives project aims to create a living document of
the history created every day by inviting tradeswomen to contribute to an online archive. By gathering the varied histories of women who
work in non-traditional jobs, the Tradeswomen Archives challenges the idea that women have no interest in, or that they can’t perform the work, as well as other misconceptions. It goes beyond celebration of women’s achievements to provide a space for critical inquiry,
education, and empowerment. Images and documents can be uploaded helping to preserve a history of local, national, and international involvement in breaking barriers into blue-collar non-traditional fields.

This online archive consists of many different items and file forms
including written stories and oral histories, documents such as
dispatch to jobs, certificates of achievement, images of women
working, short video interviews, posters from union campaigns or
community actions, newsletters and fliers from tradeswomen
organizations, etc. In addition to the online website, there is a
physical collection of the same sorts of items in the CSUDH University
Library.