RESOURCES ON THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN KOŠICE 1918 – 1938

The Constitutional Charter of the Czechoslovak Republic of 1920 enshrined the principle of gender equality. Nevertheless, several legal provisions that were contrary to this principle remained in force. The social emancipation of women, however, had better conditions in the newly created state than it was in the former AustriaHungary empire. Obstacles to women's access to higher education had been at least formally removed, just as women had been allowed to pursue occupations filled exclusively by men previously. From the 19th century, women had been involved in public life through activities in clubs, and it was the only possibility for them to move from the private sphere (household and family circles) to the public sphere, which was primarily intended for men. Compared to the latter decades of the 19th century, the emergence of a democratic republic brought about a large boom in the activity of associations, which also affected the female part of the population. Many women were involved not only in the activities of genuinely women's associations, but also in activities in gender-mixed associations, such as the branches of the Czechoslovak Red Cross or the Masaryk League against Tuberculosis, or other charitable associations. The life of associations was more differentiated, which was reflected not only at national level, but also on a regional scale. The aim of the paper is to present the various types of sources by means of which it is possible to investigate the position of women in the city of Košice between 1918 – 1938; namely the possibilities of higher (in today's secondary school) education of girls and women, the employment of women in the field of education and health, and the involvement of women in the public sphere by working in the various associations that existed in the city. These three areas are among the basic indicators of the position of women in society, since education and associations were both a prerequisite and a means of female emancipation. Higher education enabled women to do work for which a certain qualification was needed. Since in the past women have been defined by the private sphere, which was represented by the family and household, and the related care and work, women naturally found their place in the professional sphere, especially in education and health, as teachers, midwives, nurses and later also as doctors. Košice, as an administrative, cultural and educational centre, provided women (not only) in the interwar period with various opportunities in the field of education, occupation and participation in public life through activities in associations, which had a tradition in the city since the first half of the 19th century. In spite of this, the women question in Košice has not been sufficiently elaborated on yet. It only appears sporadically in the scientific literature, which is one of the reasons for choosing this research topic. The research was carried out in archives and libraries located in Košice, Bratislava and Prague. The research and collection of sources was carried out during the processing of this issue, followed by their critical evaluation. Specific examples and findings were presented in the description of individual types of sources. The sources presented include, in particular, archive sources (catalogues, class books, employee lists as well as statutes, activity reports and various applications of associations), annual reports of secondary schools and courses organized for girls and women, statistics, periodicals, legal standards, manuals for girls and women, reports on the activities and yearbooks, jubilee books, almanacs, city directories and photographs. Official statistical results from the census, especially from 1921 and 1930, allow for a comparison between the population sizes of both sexes, and comparative data is also used from 1910 statistics. Statistical results also allows for the monitoring the issues of female employment or the state of education. When examining the position of women, it is also necessary to follow the legal norms that defined women’s place in the social hierarchy. Important sources are archival documents which in relation to education were mainly official books (catalogues, protocols and registers), on the basis of which it is possible to monitor the gender, national, religious and social composition Človek a spoločnosť [Individual and Society], 2020, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 58-86. Research resources on the position of women in Košice 1918 – 1938 59 of students and the development of the number of girls at individual types of schools and courses studied; and also records (minutes, staff matters, teacher lists, timetables, forms and regulations) which were retained from Košice secondary schools and courses for girls and women. In addition, the archives store files of associations, which consist of lists and registrations of associations, statutes, applications, activity reports and accounts. These documents provide information on the possibilities and, in part, the extent to which women are actually involved in society. The lack of information on the existence, functioning and type of school, the number and structure of students, the composition of the teaching staff, as well as opinions on the education of girls and women complete the annual reports of secondary schools, courses and the city music school. An important source for the influence of women on society and public attitude towards women and their activities is the contemporary periodical press. In this context, it is necessary to examine the focus of articles on women and their frequency in individual regional and national periodicals. The overall picture of the position of women helps to complete the sources of private character, which include diaries, memoirs and private correspondence. However, with this type of source, there are often problems with access to them and the possibility of studying them (as they are mostly found in private archives) or with their non-preservation. Information on the contemporary perception of women and their role within society is provided by guides on raising girls or choosing the right career for a woman. Other sources that can be used to investigate women's issues include publications capturing major events in Košice, e.g. jubilee books, as well as almanacs and city directories, in which existing schools, courses, associations, and lists of occupants of certain occupations (midwives or doctors) were usually recorded. An essential but rarely used type of source is photography. In researching the position of women in interwar Košice it is therefore necessary to work with materials of several types in order to give the fullest possible picture of the opportunities that women acquired in the newly established democratic state and to what extent women actually realized these opportunities. Although there are various types of sources related to the education of girls and women, their employment or activities in societies, we find that their use is very limited in many cases. In addition to problems with the wide dispersal of sources, coupled with their non-preservation, with the city of Košice there is also a problem related to the linguistic diversity of the examined written sources which most often occur in Slovak, Czech, Hungarian and German languages, but also in English, French or Russian.


Introduction
Traditional historical research (focusing mainly on political and economic history) is being gradually complemented by research in other fields of historiography as well as other scientific disciplines. The focus of research is shifting to the examination of everyday life in the private sphere, the family or on women as such,in addition to exploring the usual themes. If we want to know the past in as great a detail as possible, we must explore it from several different aspects, including the issue of women. In the words of the Czech historian Jana Burešová: "I consider it important to focus on the feminine element of society as it renders the most complete and most colourful image of the historical period and its atmosphere." 1 The basic indicators of the position of women in society include education, employment and social activities, as these opened the way for women in social and professional life. 2 The education of women supported their access to the public sphere, to public performance and the possibility of self-realization and presentation of their own claims. It provided them with an overview of world events and an opportunity for better success. Through education, they could gradually cope with the position men had in society. Achieving higher education expanded women's employment opportunities (women were gaining ground in multiple professions including those of teaching, medicine and care) and also allowed them to hold some management positions (as directors of educational institutions). 3 This also strengthened their position socially which was also reflected in their activities in associations (not only women's but also in gender-mixed associations). These allowed women to step out of the home and to integrate into different areas of public life. Women's education, as well as their activities within associations, was not only a prerequisite but also a means of emancipating women.
However, only a few publications focus on the individual aspects of the lives of women in the territory of present-day Slovakiaeither nationally or regionallyduring the inter-war period. Most written works have dealt only with the position of women in the Middle Ages, the early Modern Age, and in the period from the second half of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century. There is a notable deficiency in Slovak historiography during this inter-war period, especially at a regional level. The city of Košice, an administrative, cultural, economic, political and educational center with a varied religious and ethnic composition, while having no compact works mapping its historical development across all historical periods, is not an unexplored area. On the contrary, many aspects of the historical development of Košice in various historical periods have already been researched, to a varying degree, one example being Ondrej Ficeri's publication, mapping Slovak historiography in regards to Košice up to 2008. 4 However, in regards to girls' education, the professional career of women, their activities within civil associations and their position in Košice society, there is relatively little work apparent.
As the topic still requires further work, we have focused on various types of sources from researchers to explore the possibilities of higher (i.e. today's high/secondary school) education for women, their employment opportunities or involvement in public life between the two world wars. The aim of this work is to introduce various types of research sources related to the position of women in Košice, including: statistics, rules and regulations, archive sources, annual reports, periodicals of the time, handbooks for girls and women, jubilee books, almanacs, city files and photographs. The processing of the topic started with the basic method, i.e. heuristics (exploration and collection of sources). 5 Subsequently, a critical analysis of the sources was carried out, followed by a description of the individual source types to which specific findings and/or possibilities of research use were stated.

A brief outline of the topic
Discussions on the status and role of women divided society not only in the 19th century, but also in the first half of the 20th century; one view maintained that gaining higher education and employment in positions previously held exclusively by men led to a loss of femininity of women. 6 Despite this, various forms of education were gradually made available to the female population, 7 although until the establishment of the first Czechoslovak Republic (Czechoslovakia), the education of girls and boys had to be conducted separately. Co-education was not allowed until 1919 and was fully established by the so-called Minor Education Act. 8 In 1919, the first girls' grammar school was established in Košice, 9 and subsequently girls were offered full-time study at other types of grammar schools and secondary vocational schools. 10 A new type of educational institute were two-year girls' vocational family schools (later public vocational schools for women's professions), which did not exist in Slovakia until 1918. 11 In Košice, such a school was founded in 1922. 12 Another possibility of education for girls and 6 DUDEKOVÁ, Gabriela. Diskurz o poslaní vzdelaných žien pred a po roku 1918. In DUDEKOVÁ, Gabriela et al. Na ceste k modernej žene. Kapitoly z dejín rodových vzťahov na Slovensku. Bratislava : Veda, 2011, p. 99. 7 The issue of development of girls' education in Slovakia in the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century is dealt with in particular by Daniela Kodajová, who analyses the possibilities of girls' access to education, its content and its later application. KODAJOVÁ . Girls were more interested in studying at the commercial academy and commercial school. 11 Adriana Kičková wrote about the education of girls in vocational schools after 1918 in the chapter "Share of education of girls in the school structure", which is part of the collective monograph Pedagogické myslenie, školstvo, a vzdelávanie na Slovensku v rokoch 1918-1945[Pedagogical Thinking, Educational system and Education in Slovakia from 1918to 1945. KUDLÁČOVÁ, Blanka (ed.). Pedagogické myslenie, školstvo, a vzdelávanie na Slovensku v rokoch 1918Slovensku v rokoch -1945. Trnava : Trnavská univerzita v Trnave, 2016. 413 p. Nina Sozanská and Adriana Kičková attended the public vocational school for women's professions in Nitra. In their study, the authors focused on the teaching staff, students and their school activities. SOZANSKÁ, Nina -KIČKOVÁ, Adriana. Premeny odbornej školy pre ženské povolania : Modelové mesto Nitra. In Evropské pedagogické fórum 2014 : Proměny pedagogiky a psychologie [online]. Hradec Králové : Magnanimitas, 2014, pp. 281-292. 12 Výročná zpráva dvojročnej dievčenskej odbornej rodinnej školy v Košiciach za šk. r. 1922-23, 1923-24, 1924-25. Košice, 1925 women were various courses, qualifying them to practice certain professions. These included business courses or midwife training courses, which followed the tradition of courses organized in the previous period. The topic of secondary and vocational education in inter-war Košice was dealt with by several authors whose works provide an insight into the existence of individual schools, their origin, termination, functioning and related problems or present basic statistical data. However, of those which focus on the education of girls and women in Košice, they do so only marginally. 13 More information about education (not only in Košice) in the form of midwifery or nursing courses is included in works on health education in Slovakia. 14 Gender inequalities of modern society are revealed by research into women's employment and occupations in the past. In the context of the employment of women, older historiography considered World War I to be the milestone in women's entry into paid employment. Nevertheless, women from the lower strata of society were employed in relatively large numbers even before the First World War. During the war, middle-class women managed to make themselves visible in positions until then the preserve of men. The introduction of women to paid employment at that time was considered to be only a temporary necessary condition and women were expected to return to their households after the war. Depending on the economic situation, some women did indeed leave their jobs, while others had to continue their jobs to sustain their families. World War I contributed to breaking stereotypical ideas about the role of women in society. 15 Despite the fact that the issue of women's employment and career opportunities offer broad research possibilities (for example, by comparing women's and men's employment in a particular group), valuable works on selected women's professions exist. 16 However, a publication on the issue of women's employment in Košice in the interwar period has yet to be published. 13 BOJKOVÁ, Alžbeta. Primárne problémy transformácie slovenských stredných a odborných škôl v Košiciach v medzivojnovom období. Košice : UPJŠ v Košiciach, 2018. 205 p. BOJKOVÁ, Alžbeta -WOLFOVÁ, Eva -ĎURKOVSKÁ, Mária. Školstvo v Košiciach v rokoch 1918-1953. Štruktúry a fragmenty historického vývoja Košíc. Košice : UPJŠ v Košiciach, 2014, pp. 152-198. ĎURKOVSKÁ, Mária -SÁPOSOVÁ, Zlatica. Hatalmi változásoktannyelvi váltások. Középiskolák, Kassa 1920. In Szociálpedagógia : nemzetközi szaklektorált folyóirat [online], 2018 FALISOVÁ, Anna. Ženy v zdravotníctve so zameraním na ošetrovateľstvo (1918 -1938 Another scope of problems concerning the issue of women are civil associations and the association life of women. Although associations were considered to be an area pertinent to the male part of the population, some women also participated in the associations, albeit to a limited extent. Through associations, women could leave the household sphere and join the public sphere. 17 Elena Mannová pointed out that although the image of a "national" woman was that of a "passive counterpart of her man, silently supporting him and sacrificing herself for him", this was not true all the time. 18 Recent research shows that in Slovakia, there were women's associations with a long history, especially charitable associations. 19 The establishment of Czechoslovakia brought new conditions for civil associations. Section 113 of the 1920 Constitution enacted the freedom of assembly and association: "The freedom of the press, as well as the right to assemble peacefully and without arms, and to form associations are ensured." 20 In addition to the new conditions of forming civil associations, the establishment of the democratic republic brought also a significant boom to civil associations that also affected the female population. Despite the fact that the activities of civil associations slowly spread from larger towns to smaller settlements, they remained the privilege of the urban population, mainly in the interwar period. Activities in associations became differentiated and this was reflected not only at a national level, but also on a regional scale. At the beginning of the 1920s, several women's associations existed in different regions simultaneously. 21 Although several works were written about women's social life, they mainly map the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and only rarely examine this issue in the interwar period. 22 Therefore, this topic is still open to research. The issue is inadequately addressed, especially at the regional level. The activities of women in associations in Košice have not yet been sufficiently explored and have only been marginally mentioned in the works. 23

Statistics
The development of the total population of Košice in the period under review, as well as the gender composition of the population, can be monitored using the official data of the 1910, 24 1921 25 and 1930 censuses. 26  It is possible to compare how the employment of women in Košice changed during the first Czechoslovak Republic, namely in 1930, compared to the times of Austria-Hungary in 1910, when the last census was performed in this state. In addition to statistical results from population censuses, research may also use statistics related to schools in Czechoslovakia, which include information on students and teachers of schools in the respective cities. 28

Rules and regulations
When examining the issue of women, rules and regulations have to be taken into account. 29 As Jana Burešová wrote: "It is necessary to examine the whole system of instruments that defined a woman's place in the social hierarchy, from the unequal status in the legal system to the aesthetic norms and contemporary morality, for instance." 30 Rules and regulations and their correct interpretation help to create a bigger picture of society. Since their main role is to regulate social relations, they are literally a mirror of society. Yet they are unable to portray reality in its entirety. Thus, they cannot depict the real position of women in the past, but rather clarify what their position should have been. 31 When examining the legal status of women, we must therefore take into account not only the rules and regulations, but also the degree of their enforcement. According to Gabriela Dudeková: "The analyses of law (including critical responses of contemporary lawyers) convincingly show that in practice, the interpretation of written law was distorted and often, rules were de facto violated, which was also associated with women's low legal awareness." To see the real status of women, it is necessary to get acquainted with the contemporary views on the issue and with the degree of democracy; those being the fundamental aspects of real legal practice. 32

Archive resources
The basic source for the research of the position of women (their education, employment and activities in associations) in Košice between 1918 -1938  One of the possibilities of educating girls and women was also through extracurricular studies in the library. Therefore, another valuable source for researching the education of women in interwar Košice is the list of readers and the statistics stored in the 1924 -1974 records of the Regional Library in Košice [Krajská knižnica v Košiciach], deposited at ŠA-K. Although these materials do not provide information on the education of the readers, they can complement the overall picture of the education of women in Košice. In the register of readers, information on language knowledge and interest in particular types of literature was recorded, in addition to data on gender, age, nationality, religion and occupation. In the 1928 readers' list, 621 women (27%) and 1,679 men (73%), were registered. Almost half (49.91%) of the visitors were members of the younger generation; 16-25 years old. More than half of the women were of Hungarian ethnicity (59.9%). The second largest group were Jewish girls and women (13.5%). They were followed by Czech (10.6%), Slovak (8.7%), German (6%) and Russian (0.5%) readers. 0.8% of the readers had another ethnicity. As to language skills, 87.6% of women stated that they spoke Hungarian. The second most common was German, spoken by 82.1% of the readers. This was followed by Slovak (56.2%), French (20.5%), Czech (18.5%), English (6.3%) and Russian (3.1%). In addition to these languages, 3.4% of women spoke another foreign language. In terms of religious adherence, 36.4% were Roman Catholic, 2.6% Greek Catholic, 8% Lutheran, 2.6% Calvinist, 0.6% Czechoslovak, 0.2% Czech Brethren, 0.2% other Christian denominations, and 47.5% Jewish. 0.2% had another religion and 1.7% of the readers had no indicated religion. As to their occupations, 70.2% of women had a tick stating 'housewife' or 'household' at their home address and a 'freelancer' box ticked as occupation. 37 No less than 3 out of 5 of readers worked in the household or were housewives. 15% of the readers were students. 10.3% of women held office positions and 2.7% were teachers or professors. Only 1.8% of registered women in the list of readers had another profession. Readers were most interested in 'entertainment literature', as well as literature on household and fashion, art, history and sports. Only 10.8% of women had been on the library reader list in previous years. 38 A higher level of education placed women in a better position in the labour market. The archival funds deposited at ŠA-K can provide information on the employment of women in Košice between 1918 and 1938 in the education and health sectors. 39 In researching the employment of women in the area of education, documents from the aforementioned records of secondary schools and courses are very useful, too. Since women were also employed as teachers at the city's music school, researchers can use the documents stored in the MMK records of AMK, related to the operation of this school and its teachers (teacher lists, subjects taught, timetables  (1915 -1957). 41 Since both the Register and the Index lack the exact dating of the existence of the specific associations, researchers cannot use them to determine the operating years of the respective associations. The associations' files are divided into 16 groups according to the scope of the associations. However, following a more detailed examination, one may find that this division contains documents mainly from the post-1938 period and that in some cases, articles of association from earlier periods are available.  (28); IV. agricultural, forestry and horticultural (21); V. trading and industrial of all kinds (3); VI. museum, scientific, artistic and beautification (2); VII. students' (2); VIII. social, readers', entertainment, drama, singing, musical and educational (45); IX. gymnastics (6); X. sports (47); XI. associations of military veterans, shooting and armed associations (6); XII. firefighting (2); XIII. professional organizations (90); XIV. workers' labour unions (15); XV. pigeon breeding associations (1); XVI. others (17). The list includes also a political association. 43 Information on a similar number of associations (312) in Košice appears in the press in 1936. Slovenský východ, February 3, 1937 The aforementioned archive materials do not provide specific data on the establishment or dissolution of all associations. Therefore, we cannot always be certain as to whether these associations operated simultaneously or at a different timein terms of number, it is difficult to compare women's associations of Košice operating in the 19th century 50 and at the beginning of the 20th century with those operating in the interwar period. Some women's associations founded in Košice in the 19th century continued their activities during World War I and their existence and activities lasted until the interwar period, 51 while others had disappeared in the 19th century, 52 during the World War Two or after the establishment of Czechoslovakia. In the democratic conditions of the newly established republic, new women's associations having no roots in the former monarchy were also founded. 53 The same is true of associations, whichalthough not exclusively femalehad active female members. However, when researching the social status of women in Košice, it is not important to see how many and which associations existed in the city, but to what extent women could participate in their activities. Therefore, it is also necessary to explore other types of data that may reveal the associations women actually participated in.
In addition to the aforementioned register, index or lists of associations in Košice, the applications of associationsmost often requesting financial supporthave survived. 54 Associations usually applied for support to the city, sometimes to the district or the county administration. In the applications, they have detailed the reasons for requesting support from them. In particular, they mentioned the main goals of the association and the specific activities that the association had undertaken in the past. Occasionally, the members and the year of foundation of the particular association was mentioned. Associations often attached their articles of association to the applications. However, these have not been preserved in all cases. Since in Czechoslovakia, women were formally equal to men, the articles of association also stated that members of the association could be people of both sexes. Given the fact that only rarely did the lists of association members survive in the archives, it is difficult to tell the extent to which women were actually involved in the activities of the associations. The files stored in the archives also include the annual statements of associations filed to the city council. However, from these, it is only possible to identify some officials of the particular associations. Among the files there are also reports of associations about their activities performed in the respective years, which may show the involvement of women in the associations of the city.
Since all the activities had to be reported to the City Police Department (to the captain's office and, later, to the police directorate established in Košice at the end of 1920), the files preserved of the activities of these two institutions may be considered important for researching the 1918 -1938  Preservation of the articles of association and activity reports is related to the obligation of the associations to file these documents with the Ministry of Interior of the Czechoslovak Republic and with the relevant police directorate. The articles of association had to be filed upon establishment of the association and upon each amendment. Reports of their activities performed during the past period (most often the previous year) had to be filed regularly.

Annual reports
An important source for research of girls' and women's education and their employment in education are the annual reports of secondary schools, which can fill the gaps resulting from the loss and/or destruction of certain parts of the archives of individual schools. The annual reports provide a summary of the school year and provide information on a school's operations over the past period. Since these documents map the school's administration and also the social and cultural state of the city and the school's part in this, they are important sources of knowledge when considering the operation of a particular school and the state of education. 55 During the interwar period, almost all types of educational institutions issued annual school reports. Despite the fact that their publishing was regulated by several MŠaNO decrees, which sought their uniformity in terms of content and form, these depended mainly on the financial and material resources of the particular institution. According to the MŠaNO Decree no. 17830 of 25 May 1921, the annual reports had to contain information about the teaching staff, the course of the school yearthe so-called school chronicle (including school-leaving exams), collections of teaching aids, grants and scholarships, statistics of students (in terms of headcount, birthplace, residence, nationality, mother tongue, religion, age, etc.), the list of students and announcements for the subsequent school year. 56 However, not all schools complied with the regulations, and so there are some differences between the annual reports of the respective schools, and this also applies to the annual reports issued by Košice schools. 57 The fact that the annual reports are dispersed in the records of libraries, archives, museums and other institutions makes it difficult to work with this type of the resources. They are usually only fragmentary and sometimes inconsistent and/or they are not processed or kept file of at all. 58 The annual reports of secondary schools, courses and the city Music school are also important resources because they provide information about the existence of particular schools and whether they were co-educational, girls' schools or if the schooldespite the possibility of admitting female studentsreported only male students. Most annual reports allow surveying the national, religious or social structure of the students. However, the problem in researching girls' education is that in the statistics of the annual reports, the sex of the students was 55 GEŠKOVÁ, Želmíra -KRIŠKOVÁ, Ľubica. Bibliografia výročných správ škôl z územia Slovenska za školské roky 1918/19 -1952/53. Martin : Matica slovenská, 1998  differentiated only when considering the total headcount of students in the respective forms, but when considering other aspects (such as the mentioned nationality or religion), gender information was not stated. In such cases, the situation is simpler with schools attended only by girls. These include the girls' secondary schools or two-year girls' family vocational school. However, in case of the latter, the statistics are missing because the school's annual reports contain only lists of students. As mentioned above, only two catalogues have survived in the archives, so the annual reports complement the missing information not only concerning its origin or operation, but also provide contemporary views on the position of women in society and on the importance of their education: " [...]  Information about individual school subjects is also important, and when examining the employment of women in education, the information about the teachers who were teaching the subjects is equally important. The annual reports allow monitoring the gender composition of the teaching staff of the respective schools in the city, along with whether there were any differences in the set of subjects taught by men and women. For example, the staff of the Twoyear Girls' Vocational Family School in Košice consisted of three female teachers and two male teachers during the first years of its existence. 60 The number of in-house and external male and female teachers changed every year. In the school year 1928/29, 8 female and 5 male teachers taught at the school. 61 By the school year 1937/38, the number of teachers increased to 18 women and 2 men. 62

Printed media of the time
To examine the position of women in the past, one must focus not only on archived documents, but also on the contemporary press. As a means of mass communication, it is an important resource, because they reflect the influence of women on society as well as the attitude of the wider public to women and their activities at the time. One has to examine the context in which the articles on women appeared in the written media. For example, whether they were related to the fields of politics, culture, health, education or charity, or whether they supported women in their efforts to achieve an equal position to that of men, or whether these articles tried to act against these efforts. The contemporary press is therefore another source to use when examining the position of women in interwar Košice. This includes mainly the regional contemporary press, such as the pro-government daily  r. 1922r. /23, 1923r. /24, 1924r. /25. Košice, 1925  In conclusion we can say that Slovenský východ supported women in their emancipatory efforts and even tried to awaken the desire for Slovak women to work in politics and to achieve an equal status with men. The emancipation of women in politics required a certain level of education, which the daily also supported. As a regional daily paper of Eastern Slovakia based in Košicea city which was the cultural, political, administrative and economic center of Eastern Slovakia, and was significantly impacted by the hungarianization in the previous period it responded mainly to the need for Slovak education of both men and women. On its pages there were quite often articles about emerging girls' schools, about planned courses for women in Košice and in other cities of (Czecho)Slovakia, 64 but also information on expanding opportunities for higher education for women.
Women in healthcare was another topic given great attention by the paper. It published mainly information about courses for nurses and midwives, as well as job advertisements on job vacancies, such as for the nurses in the hospital in Košice. Newspapers thus included job advertisements, divided according to the sex of the applicants. As to the employment of women, the paper published short reports on the employment of women in positions previously held by men. 65 In addition to the contemporary periodicals published in Slovak, it is necessary to focus also on the Hungarian media and not only on the regional papersincluding Kassai Napló [Košice Journal] (1919-1929 and Kassai Hírlap [Košice Herald] (1904-1922, the most popular papers in Košice, or Kassai Katholikus Egyházi Tudósitó [Košice Catholic Clerical News] (1914-1940, Kassai Munkás [Košice Worker], Munkás [Worker] after 1922[Worker] after (1907[Worker] after -1937, 63 Slovenský východ, March 18, 1919, č. 59, Ženám, pp. 1-2. 64 Slovenský východ, February 13, 1920, č. 35, p. 4. 65 Slovenský východ, January 10, 1937, Ženy Slovenky v súdnej službe, p. 8.
A Nép [People] (1921[People] ( -1937 -but also on national press. A notable example is most popular Hungarian daily in Czechoslovakia, Prágai Magyar Hírlap [Prague Hungarian Herald], published in Prague from 1922 to 1938, which also reflected the life of women in Košice. In addition to the above, periodicals, primarily for women, can provide valuable information. Another Hungarian periodical paper for women was Katolikus Nő [Catholic Woman] (1932 or Nőmunkás [Worker Woman] for women workers (1924 -1925). No similar Slovak title was published in Košice in the interwar period, soas far as Slovak press is concernedone may use only periodicals published in other cities of Czechoslovakia. In Slovakia, the following women's periodicals were published in the interwar period: Slovenská žena [Slovak Woman] (1920-1923, Gazdiná [Housewife] (1925 -1937)a supplement to Slovenský Gazda [Slovak Farmer], Slovenka [Slovak Woman] (1930)a Slovak version of the Prague daily List paní a dívek [Ladies' andGirls' Magazine] (1922 -1929), Nová žena [New Woman] (1938-1944), Dennica (1898) and Živena (1910-1949. When processing periodicals of the time, the publisher of the newspaper or magazine has to be taken into account, since this reflected the nature of the published articles and the attitude of the paper to the issue. It is important to study the various periodicals to eliminate the possibility of achieving a distorted picture of society's view of women. Thematic bibliographic works of Michal Potemra and Mária Mihóková are suitable tools to process periodicals. These are bibliographies of newspaper and magazine articles concerning 1848 -1918 secondary education in Košice 66 and cultural life in Košice in 1848 -1918 67 and 1938 -1945. 68 Although these publications do not focus on the interwar period, the information contained therein will help for comparison of the issue (e.g. education of girls and women) in the particular periods and/or when processing the Press from the years that focus on the particular issues, i.e. 1918 and 1938.

Other types of resources
Private sources like memoirs, diaries and private correspondence also help to complete the bigger picture of women's status. These help to reconstruct not only the fates of specific individuals, but also the social life of a city or region, as is the case with Lolina kniha [Lola's book]based on letters, diaries, memories and other sourcesin providing information about the lives of several women in Košice. 69 Valuable information on the perception of women and their role in society of the time is provided in handbooks to help girls and women, e.g. choosing a suitable profession; 70 sources related to education: school curricula, study plans, textbooks; activity reports and yearbooks of associations, 71 as well as resources capturing information on individual important events in Košicejubilee books and almanacs 72 or city address books. 73 Existing associations were usually disclosed in the address books of Košicealthough a comparison of the aforementioned lists of associations and city address books shows that the respective address books did not always list all associations. This resource may also be used in research of the employment of women, as address books also contained lists of (fe)male doctors and midwives. A further type of resourcesimportant, but only sporadically usedis photographs. Considering the topics in question, these include photographs of girls and women from the sector of education or healthcare, deposited in the East Slovak Museum in Košice in the collection of historical photographs.

Conclusions
Despite the fact that in recent years the history of women and gender relations were processed by a number of scientific papers in Slovak historiography, there is still considerable space for further research and new publications, as a result of hitherto unknown sources, facts or contexts. The issue of women in the past can be examined at various levels and from various perspectives. Initially, women's history focused on topics such as girls' education, women's legal status or employment, however, gradually research began to focus on other areasthe female body, health or sexuality. The difficulty of researching these topics often results from a lack of resources, since official resources are not sufficient in these cases and private sourcessuch as diaries or correspondenceshould also be used. However, there are certain difficulties in their discovery and/or acquisition, since these are deposited mostly in private archives. Another perspective on women's lives is available in novelsnot only the literary works written about or for women, but also female authors and their works. Interviews with participants or witnesses of the investigated events can also provide valuable information.
One possibility of research is to address the issue of women's status at a regional level. This paper focused on various types of resources related to education, professional success and the social life of women in Košice. These traditional topics of women's history are fundamental to researching the position of women in the past. So far, in the Slovak literature, the issue of women's lives in Košice has only appeared marginally, especially in connection with the research of Slovak education in the interwar period, the Jewish issue, social life in the dualistic Kingdom of Hungary or after the establishment of Czechoslovakia. The author decided to deal with the issue of types of resources due to the absence of research studies, since in most cases, not even the basic information related to the lives of women in interwar Košice has been disclosed and/or only partial findings are available. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to support basic research of the issue and to provide further information about the selected topic.
In this paper, the author presented statistics, rules and regulations, archive sources, annual reports, periodicals of the time, handbooks for girls and women, jubilee books, almanacs, city address books and photographs that can be used to research the topic. Despite the fact that there are different types of resources available for the three aforementioned topics, their in-depth examination shows thatin many casestheir use is very limited. Therefore, multiple types of resources have to be used when researching the position of women in interwar Košice. In addition to the official resources, private documents have to be considered to create a comprehensive picture of the opportunities that women had under the conditions of the then newly established democratic state and the extent to which women actually used or could have used them. One of the fundamental research problems is the linguistic diversity of the resources, as the written sources occur in at least four languages -Czech, Hungarian, German and Slovak. Occasionally, English, French or Russian appears. This is one of the reasons why historians have not yet given the topic sufficient attention.