Women's History

Lincoln outlived her husband and three of her four children.

Why Historians Should Reevaluate Mary Todd Lincoln's Oft-Misunderstood Grief

A new exhibition at President Lincoln's Cottage connects the first lady's experiences to those of modern bereaved parents

Effa Manley, co-owner of the Negro Leagues' Newark Eagles, poses in the dugout of Ruppert Stadium in Newark, New Jersey, in 1948.

Baseball's Leading Lady Championed Civil Rights and Empowered Black Athletes

Effa Manley advocated for Black rights as a Negro Leagues team owner in the 1930s and '40s

This 1561 portrait depicts Catherine de' Medici standing alongside four of her children, including the newly crowned Charles IX.

Rarely Seen Portrait of Renaissance Queen Catherine de' Medici to Go on View

The 16th-century regent, pictured with four of her children, wielded significant political power during the French Wars of Religion

Ophthalmologist Dr. Patricia Bath poses with students at the National Museum of American History in 2000.

Hear Voices of Women Trailblazers in Science, Technology and Innovation

Ophthalmologist Patricia Bath worked to bring healthcare to underserved communities and teach girls about STEM

Some facets of the 1918 influenza pandemic echo today's crisis: There were mask mandates, campaigns against spitting and pleas for people to cover their mouths, and more than half a million Americans died. The decade that followed the pandemic, however, was marked by social change and economic prosperity—for some.

What Caused the Roaring Twenties? Not the End of a Pandemic (Probably)

As the U.S. anticipates a vaccinated summer, historians say measuring the impact of the 1918 influenza on the uproarious decade that followed is tricky

Harriet Tubman likely lived in the Maryland cabin between 1839 and 1844, when she was about 17 to 22 years old.

Site of Harriet Tubman's Lost Maryland Home Found After Decades-Long Search

The Underground Railroad conductor's father, Ben Ross, received the land where the cabin once stood in the early 1840s

Grace Hartigan, Masquerade, 1954

Sweeping Survey Unites Works by 100 Women Artists of the Past Century

An ongoing exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, features 200 paintings, sculptures, ceramics and more

Alma Thomas, Autumn Leaves Fluttering in the Breeze, 1973, acrylic on canvas

Why These Five Women Changemakers in American Art Deserve Reconsideration

A rising scholar of equality issues in American Art dives into the Smithsonian collections to find dynamic stories for her upcoming webcomic series

Explore the true history and myths behind six “terrible” women, from the all-knowing Sphinx to the fire-breathing Chimera and the lesser-known shapeshifter Lamia.

Men Have Feared Women for Millennia. Just Look at the Monsters of Greek Mythology

A new collection of essays considers how the villainous women of classical antiquity, from Medusa to the Sphinx, resonate in contemporary Western society

The Quarter-Century Reign of the All-Women Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles

Far from a “girl band” or pop novelty, the group’s success is a hard-earned triumph of gender justice

Alice Neel, Jackie Curtis and Ritta Redd, 1970

How Alice Neel's Revolutionary Portraits Put People First

A new show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art features 100 of the American artist's paintings, drawings and watercolors

None

The Surprising Story of the Smithsonian Sunburst

Crimilda Pontes was the Institution’s first official graphic designer and the designer of the iconic sunburst symbol

Women broke the glass ceiling of fire lookout positions almost as soon as the job was established.

Female Fire Lookouts Have Been Saving the Wilderness for Over a Century

Spotting smoke from towers on high peaks could have been deemed 'man's work,' but a few pioneers paved the way for generations of women to do the job

Gloria Steinem in her Upper East Side apartment

Take a Virtual Tour of Feminist Icon Gloria Steinem's Historic Manhattan Apartment

In honor of her 87th birthday, the speaker and activist is (digitally) welcoming visitors into her home

Portrait of Graceanna Lewis, The Underground Rail Road (1872)

Meet Naturalist Graceanna Lewis, Who Played a Key Role in the Underground Railroad

One of the first three woman to be accepted into the Academy of Natural Sciences, Lewis left behind a legacy of science and soclal progress

Fiber artist Barbara Lee Smith in her studio.

A Friendship Forged in the Archives

Maine writer and illustrator Jessica Esch happened upon the Archives of American Art by chance; but destiny followed

L to R: Anna, the eldest van Gogh sister; Elisabeth, or Lies; and Willemien, the youngest, who was better known as Wil

New Book Details the Lives of Vincent van Gogh's Sisters Through Their Letters

The missives reveal that the Impressionist artist's family paid for his younger sibling's medical care by selling 17 of his paintings

An undated view of the Seven Hills of Bonn by Josephine Butler, who campaigned for sex workers' rights and pushed Parliament to raise the age of consent

Pioneering Victorian Suffragist's Unseen Watercolor Paintings Are Up for Sale

Seven landscape scenes by 19th-century British social reformer Josephine Butler are headed to the auction block

Violet Gibson, a 50-year-old Irish woman, attempted to assassinate Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1926.

The Little-Known Story of Violet Gibson, the Irish Woman Who Shot Mussolini

A free radio documentary tells the tale of the long-overlooked individual who nearly killed the Italian dictator in 1926

Yayoi Kusama with recent works in Tokyo, 2016

Trove of Early Yayoi Kusama Works to Go on Public View for the First Time

The Japanese artist gifted the pieces, which will be exhibited ahead of a May auction, to her doctor as thanks for free medical care

Page 14 of 46