In 1967 the library was renamed for Elizabeth Bancroft and Professor Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr., in recognition of their dedication to women's history and the Women's Archives. Papers of families, some of them well known. Records of current and defunct women's organizations and of groups and agencies concerned with women's issues, among them the Boston and Cambridge YWCAs, the National Organization for Women, and several Boston-area settlement houses. The Schlesinger Library is a handicapped-accessible building in the Radcliffe Yard, three blocks from Harvard Square. It moved into the former Radcliffe College Library in 1967, and has occupied the entire building since 1988.
Books are on open shelves.
There are separate manuscript and periodical reading rooms, and facilities for the use of microforms and audio- and videotapes. The building also houses the Radcliffe Archives. The Schlesinger Library sponsors Research grants for those using the library's holdings as funding is available. The Carol K. Pforzheimer Student Fellowships are open to Harvard undergraduates. Fellows can receive affiliation and office space with some financial support.