Women's History
Global Cultures Have Always Worshipped—and Feared—Women
A new explores two sides of female divinity
Shirley Temple Black's Remarkable Second Act as a Diplomat
An unpublished memoir reveals how the world’s most famous child actress became a star of the environmental movement
The Revolutionary 1965 Supreme Court Decision That Declared Sex a Private Affair
A Smithsonian curator of medicine and science looks back to the days when police could arrest couples for using contraception
Did an Enslaved Woman Try to Warn the Americans of Benedict Arnold's Treason?
New research sheds light on Liss, who was enslaved by the family of a Culper Spy Ring leader and had ties to British spymaster John André
In 1973, a Leak at the Supreme Court Broke News of an Imminent Ruling on Roe v. Wade
Nearly 50 years later, a similar disclosure revealed that the court is poised to overturn legalized abortion in the U.S.
Martha Mitchell Was the Brash 'Mouth of the South' That Roared
A portrait reveals the dignity behind the maligned woman who stepped up to tell the truth
Betty Reid Soskin, Oldest National Park Service Ranger, Retires at 100
As an NPS employee, she promoted the stories of African American people and women of color who contributed to the home front effort during WWII
The Enslaved Woman Who Liberated a Slave Jail and Transformed It Into an HBCU
Forced to bear her enslaver's children, Mary Lumpkin later forged her own path to freedom
Why Are Regency-Era Shows Like 'Bridgerton' So Popular?
An Austen expert and a period drama TV critic reflect on the enduring appeal of romance series set in turn-of-the-19th-century England
Five Women Inventors You Didn't Learn About in History Class
These innovators pioneered word processing, launched Americans into space and more
When Patsy Cline Broke Through as a Country Music Phenom
The recording star sported a homemade suit as spectacular as her voice
How Kate Warne, America's First Woman Detective, Foiled a Plot to Assassinate Abraham Lincoln
In February 1861, the Pinkerton agent, posing as the disguised president-elect's sister and caregiver, safely escorted him to Baltimore
Ten Pioneering Women of Antarctica and the Places Named for Them
These coves, peaks, glaciers and other landmarks honor female explorers and scientists who have contributed to our understanding of the continent
Meet the Black Women Judges Who Paved the Way for Ketanji Brown Jackson
Jane Bolin, Constance Baker Motley and Julia Cooper Mack laid the groundwork for the Supreme Court nominee
Madeleine Albright on Her Life in Pins
In 2010, the former secretary of state reflected on her famous collection of brooches and pins
All-Black, All-Woman WWII Unit Awarded Congressional Gold Medal
The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion cleared a six-month backlog of mail while stationed in Europe in 1945
A Bold New Show at the Met Explores A Single Sculpture
The exhibition probes the paradoxes of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's "Why Born Enslaved!," the most famous depiction of a Black woman in 19th-century art
The Trailblazing Black Woman Chemist Who Discovered a Treatment for Leprosy
After Alice Ball's death in 1916 at age 24, a white man took credit for her research
Who Was the Real Lucille Ball?
"I Love Lucy" is having a moment—but we're still not ready to see its star and creator clearly
The Myth of Agent 355, the Woman Spy Who Supposedly Helped Win the Revolutionary War
A single reference in the historical record has spawned an array of adaptations, most of which overstate the anonymous figure's role in the Culper Spy Ring
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