Women and Social Movements in Modern Empires since 1820 This link opens in a new windowA searchable online collection, or archive, of documents that view the history of modern empires--conquest, colonization, settlement, resistance, and post-coloniality--through women’s eyes. Drawn from libraries, physical archives, and personal collections around the world, many of which documents are available to researchers for the first time. Women’s voices can be found at all levels of imperial history. As agents of empire, women were active as missionaries, educators, health-care professionals, and women’s-rights advocates. As opponents of empire, women were active in nationalist and social-reform movements, and as conservers of culture. As people in the vanguard of cultural interaction, women often forged a middle path of innovation in education, health, and family life that drew on both imperial and host cultures.