The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the best resource for historical statistics on labor force participation rates. Use their ILOSTAT. Under Browse Indicators by Subject , expand the selection for Population and Labour Force and look for Labour force participation rate. Click on the link for By Sex and Age. This will open up a large table with many countries and years of data. Click on the Customize button to narrow by country (Reference Area --> Country A-Z) and year (Time & Frequency). You'll be able to download all available ILO data, from population censuses, ILO model estimates, and more.

Sage Data also offers data on labor force participation rates:

• Click Browse by Subject to expand.
• Next, drill down through International - World Bank - World Development Indicators,  then select Labor and Social Protection.
• Choose "International" for aggregate data or "Country" for country-specific data. 
• If necessary, choose one or more countries and select one or more series of participation rate data.
• You can view the data as a chart or map, and export the data in several formats.