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Smithsonian American Women's History Museum

Design of the quarter with Zitkala-Ša from the waist up holding a book. The words “author, activist, composer” are beside her.

Zitkala-Ša, Native American Rights Activist, Honored on New Quarter

Zitkala-Ša, “Red Bird,” Gertrude Simmons Bonnin: an activist, author, and composer who fought for citizenship and sovereignty for Native Americans is honored on a quarter as part of the American Women Quarters Program.

Candid black and white photo of people walking down the street. Two women face the camera in the foreground under an awning with the words “The First Women’s Bank” on it.

How the Equal Credit Opportunity Act Transformed Women's Economic Power

Learn about Emily Card, Jeanne Hubbard, Stephanie Lipscomb, and Rosemary Reed—four women whose stories about financial independence demonstrate the importance of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 and the phenomenon of women’s banks.

An illustration of a new species of phyla with a cone shaped bottom and thin tendrils coming out of the top.

Science Illustration: A Creative Door for Early Women in Science

Learn about Violet Dandridge, Aime Motter Awl, Carolyn Bartlett Gast, and Marilyn Schotte: four women from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Department of Invertebrate Zoology who broke through the gendered barriers of science and made significant contributions to scientific discovery through art.

A black-and-white photograph of Fannie Lou Hamer carrying a sign and holding an umbrella over her head.

Fannie Lou Hamer and the Fight for Voting Rights

Learn about Fannie Lou Hamer, a voting rights activist whose vision for an inclusive political future laid the groundwork for the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

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