Iowa State’s Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics has created an online archive of women’s political communication in an effort to provide a path for women to be heard.

Julie Snyder-Yuly, assistant director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center, and Dianne Bystrom, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center, said they, along with the others involved, are excited to actively make a difference and honor the more than 2,000 speeches given by Carrie Chapman Catt with this Web site.

“We really want women’s voices out there to be heard and make sure that it is something people know about,” Snyder-Yuly said. “For us, it shows and promotes women getting involved throughout history and throughout the world.”

The Web site was first proposed during Bystrom’s job interview at the Center, in 1996, to create a collection of women’s political speeches, but it wasn’t actively pursued until 2005. It debuted in October 2006 and has continued to grow and develop as a resource about women in politics.

“We were in great need of a resource,” Bystrom said, “and we needed a research niche that was unique to us.”

A lack of funding was the only thing that kept the idea from taking off right away, but a private gift from Richard and Mary Jo Stanley of Muscatine made the project possible.

“It has taken so long to get it up, so we are really excited to see people using it,” Snyder-Yuly said.

Snyder-Yuly said the collection started with only currently seated women in politics, but has since expanded to include historical women.

The speeches are from first ladies, female governors, lieutenant governors, senators and representatives as well as women who have spoken at Iowa State and historical activists.

“It is a great resource to see the type of content there is,” Snyder-Yuly said. “It can be used by faculty and students in a variety of ways. It is the only collection that we know of like it in the U.S. – and probably the world.”

The speeches are categorized by the person who gave them and by the topics they cover.

Kristen Johnson, sophomore in psychology, believes this online archive could be helpful in her classes at Iowa State.

“It could be a useful reference for a position paper, report or speech,” Johnson said. “I think it’s great that women are becoming dominant in the political eye, and this Web site shows that women are getting more recognition for their roles in society.”

The written speeches are the main focus of the Web site, but the site also provides a description of each woman. The archive is being updated constantly, and Snyder-Yuly said they hope to put up video soon.

People are also being encouraged to add their own research material on the women and turn the site into more of an interactive process.

The Center will be promoting the archive across campus and hopes the archive will be used to assist faculty and students in future coursework.

The site can be accessed at www.womenspeecharchives.org.