How the American Women’s History Initiative Pool Lays the Groundwork for a New Museum

Since 2018, the American Women’s History Initiative Pool has funded more than 200 projects across the Smithsonian, supporting research, collections, and programming that make women’s history visible long before the museum has a building.

Long before opening its doors, the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum is already supporting research, stewarding collections, and engaging the public. The American Women’s History Initiative plays a central role in this work, demonstrating that a museum’s impact is defined not by its physical form, but by its sustained commitment to knowledge, access, and community.

How the Initiative Began

The initiative emerged in 2016, when the American Museum of Women's History Congressional Commission confirmed the need for a museum dedicated to women’s history. The commission created a strategic plan to guide the museum’s development and recommended the formation of the American Women’s History Initiative at the Smithsonian Institution as its first and most urgent step.

From the start, the commission emphasized that the initiative would highlight women’s contributions throughout American history, building the museum upon three core pillars: research, collections, and programming. Rather than waiting for the construction of a new building, the commission urged the museum to utilize existing Smithsonian collections to form a basis for temporary exhibitions.

In 2018, the Smithsonian’s then Office of the Provost and Under Secretary for Museums, Education, and Research built upon this vision by launching the American Women’s History Initiative as a centralized program. This program administered federal pool funds to support projects across museums and research centers of the Smithsonian Institution, a role that continues to this day through the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum. Pool funds allow programs without physical buildings, such as the Asian Pacific American Center and the National Museum of the American Latino, to increase their visibility and presence. For many Smithsonian researchers and scholars, pool funds offer additional opportunities to foreground stories that have long existed in collections but lacked the funding to be fully explored.

When the museum was formally established in 2020, it assumed responsibilities of the initiative and continues to administer the pool fund to this day, becoming an integral part of fulfilling the museum’s mission. As of March 2026, the American Women’s History Initiative Pool has funded more than 200 projects across the Smithsonian Institution’s museums, research centers, programmatic offices, and the National Zoo. These projects demonstrate how a museum without walls can still make women’s history visible, meaningful, and accessible.

In its first year, the American Women’s History Initiative worked with the Smithsonian Collections Program to fund projects relating to the care of Smithsonian collections highlighting women. By the next year, the initiative began to fund digital projects as well. The pool fund has continued to evolve over time and now supports projects across a broader spectrum, including acquisitions, community and collaboration, education and public programs, and exhibitions. Each project supports at least one of the three core pillars defined by the congressional committee: research, collections, and programming.

Research: Bringing Women’s Contributions to Light

Research lies at the heart of the Smithsonian, furthering its mission to increase and diffuse knowledge. Recognizing this, in 2021, a specific call for funding proposals was issued for museums seeking to employ research assistants to increase representation of women in their collections. One recipient of this funding, the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, was able to hire research assistants to support the development of their exhibition State Fairs: Growing American Craft.

For three years, research assistants worked with exhibition curators to survey and study objects connected to women’s contribution to craft at state fairs. This research has fundamentally shaped the exhibition, highlighting the central role of women’s craft traditions in creative competitions. By administering funds to hire research assistants, the initiative is committed to amplifying women’s stories across Smithsonian spaces.

Collections: Processing the Past, Protecting the Future

Caring for museum collections is a core priority for the Smithsonian. Museum objects serve as tangible evidence of history and advance historical research. In 2024, the American Women’s History Initiative Pool supported the National Museum of African American History and Culture to process the Black Fashion Museum collection.

This collection, which consists of more than 2,000 garments, costumes, textiles, and accessories, was assembled by Lois K. Alexander Lane, founder of the Black Fashion Museum. Donated to the Smithsonian in 2007, the Black Fashion Museum collection features the work of underrepresented Black fashion designers, including a dress sewn by Rosa Parks. With partial funding from the American Women’s History Initiative, four contractors were hired to process the collection through specialized work such as conservation, cataloging, and photography. Processing the collection will help to preserve Black fashion history, making it more accessible to museum staff and the public.

Programming: Sharing Women's Stories Across Communities

Programming, another major component of museum work, ensures that museum content reaches audiences beyond the walls of the institution. The American Women’s History Initiative Pool supports public programming at the Smithsonian by funding projects such as Ozarks: The Power of Women, curated by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

Taking place in 2023 at the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Ozarks: The Power of Women was a project that sought to encourage and foster interactions between community leaders from across the Ozarks and festivalgoers. Participants across regions and specialties gathered to share unique perspectives, highlighting the resilience and creativity of Ozarker women in the fields of foodways and plant knowledge. Through funding projects like Ozarks: The Power of Women, the American Women’s History Initiative Pool facilitates learning and participation outside of museums, bringing women’s history to a wider range of audiences.

Groundwork for a New Museum

These projects are just a few examples demonstrating how the American Women’s History Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, is building a museum upon three core pillars: research, collections, and programs. While the museum currently operates primarily in digital spaces, funding these efforts allow us to support crucial projects that offer a deeper historical understanding of our nation, all while laying the groundwork for a future location on the National Mall. While plans for the permanent space continue to develop, the American Women’s History Initiative Pool sustains the foundational work of bringing women's stories, contributions, and achievements to audiences across the Smithsonian.

References

Agency History, 2017-2022. Smithsonian Institution Archives.

“Because of Her Story,” Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum blog, March 15, 2019.

Erin Blakemore, “Why a Congressional Commission Wants a National Women’s History Museum” Smithsonian Magazine, November 18, 2016.

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