This finding aid describes the manuscript material from the New Woman Collection formed by Philip Cohen, and consists of letters, literary manuscripts, autographs, photographs, and other ephemera created by and related to the authors, actresses, and activists central to the feminist and suffragist movements of the 1890s as well as those female writers and public figures who opposed them. Though the term "New Woman" was coined in 1894 and is most commonly associated with 1890s women's rights and changing social norms of the time, this collection brings together materials from previous generations of women writers working from the 1840s onward, as well as those working through the 1920s and 1930s.

In addition to the manuscript items described here, the full Cohen Collection on The New Woman also includes a large number of books and other printed works, which are cataloged individually in UC Library Search. The entire collection is also described (with additional detail and biographical sketches of many of the major figures in the collection) in Maggs Bros. Catalog 1517, a copy of which is cataloged and available to researchers at the Clark Library.

Additional related material collected by Philip Cohen may also be found in the Cohen Collection on Oscar Wilde & Theatrical Performance (MS.2021.032), which includes photographs and other material related to actors featured here, such as Mrs. Patrick Campbell.