Special Report

Women Who Shaped History

The Smithsonian's American Women’s History Initiative is a comprehensive undertaking that documents, researches, collects, displays and shares the rich and compelling story of women in the United States. In celebration of the AWHI, Smithsonian magazine has collected representative examples of its coverage of diverse women throughout American history.

Amelia Earhart (left) and Eleanor Roosevelt (right) National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of George R. Rinhart, in memory of Joan Rinhart

Medical student Anna Searcy in 1897

These Trailblazers Were the Only Women in the Room Where It Happened

A monument of civil rights pioneer Elizabeth Freeman in Sheffield, Massachusetts

How an Enslaved Woman Took Her Freedom to Court

<em>Head of a Negro Woman</em>, 1946, by Elizabeth Catlett.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

How Elizabeth Catlett Lifted Up Black Women Through Art

Attorney Gloria Allred (left) and Norma McCorvey (right), the anonymous plaintiff in <em>Roe v. Wade</em>, during a pro-choice rally in Burbank, California, on July 4, 1989

Who Was Norma McCorvey, the Woman Behind Roe v. Wade?

In a 1929 column, Amelia Earhart name-checked Keating as an example of a woman in aviation who had beaten the odds, writing, "She photographs from the air and helps make the beautifully accurate maps which compose aerial surveys."

In 1920s New York, This Woman Typist Became a Pioneering Aerial Photographer

At a time of widespread public health crises and evolving ideas about how illnesses spread, kissing was an easily avoidable vector of disease. Unfortunately for Imogene Rechtin, most people proved unwilling to give it up.

The Woman Who Fought to End the 'Pernicious' Scourge of Kissing

At the Smithsonian

This Bushnell telescope allowed Sally Ride to gaze at her favorite constellation, Orion, and envision her future as an astronaut.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

How the Smithsonian Is Honoring Remarkable American Women

Lonnie G. Bunch III

In the 2010 Winter Olympics Games in Vancouver, the USA's Hannah Teter (above: in action during the women's snowboard halfpipe competition) took home silver. Her boots are now in the collections of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Meet the Trailblazers in Women’s Olympic Snowboarding

“Bessie Coleman (above: with her Curtiss JN-4 "Jennie" in her custom designed flying suit, ca. 1924) was a real gutsy woman for the era,” says Dorothy Cochrane, a curator at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. "Anyone else might have quit at any time.”

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

For Pilot Bessie Coleman, Every 'No' Got Her Closer to 'Yes'

A first edition of Phillis Wheatley's Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773), written while the poet was enslaved to John Wheatley of Boston. The book has a brown leather cover, the original Morocco spine label and a frontispiece featuring a portrait of Phillis by Scipio Morehead.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

How Phillis Wheatley Beat All Expectations

They Shaped Culture

Head of a Negro Woman, 1946, by Elizabeth Catlett.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

How Elizabeth Catlett Lifted Up Black Women Through Art

Solange Knowles giving a speech in 2020

Solange Knowles Is Composing Her First Ballet Score

Nichelle Nichols as Nyota Uhura in “Star Trek”

Nichelle Nichols, Pioneering 'Star Trek' Actress, Dies at 89

James Joyce and Sylvia Beach at Shakespeare and Company circa 1926

Who Were the Women Behind James Joyce’s 'Ulysses'?

Women in STEM

This seven-foot statue of Pearl Kendrick, center, and Grace Eldering, left, was unveiled in Grand Rapids in 2019. Lab assistant Loney Clinton stands to the right with a microscope.

The Unsung Heroes Who Ended a Deadly Plague

By Richard Conniff
Photographs by Lisa Spindler

The life-size exhibit presents an inclusive vision of women excelling in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

Smithsonian Honors Female Scientists With 120 Bright Orange Statues

"American Girl (above: the new doll Evette Peters) was seeking to emphasize to its young audience the importance of being able to envision themselves as part of the larger American story," writes the Smithsonian's Katrina Lashley. "And that vision requires more accessible histories, as well as role models in civic engagement."

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Why This American Girl Doll Inspires Environmental Activism

Katrina Lashley

Zara Rutherford greets reporters at  Wevelgem International Airport on January 20, 2022 in Kortrijk, Belgium. At age 19, she became the youngest female pilot to circumvent the globe, traveling across five continents in five months while flying in a single-seater sport plane.

19-Year-Old Woman Completes Around-the-World Solo Flight

Future of Women's History

Between March 19 and April 17, 1964, Geraldine "Jerrie" Mock (above: at the start of her journey at Ohio's Port Columbus Airport) flew her single-engine Cessna 180, dubbed "Charlie," solo around the globe setting a world record.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Who Was the First Woman to Fly Solo Around the World?

President Biden announced his pick to fill the US Supreme Court vacancy on Friday: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.

What to Know About Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Historic Nomination to the Supreme Court

Maya Angelou, pictured here in 2008, became the first Black woman to feature on a U.S. quarter this week. The celebrated poet and author died in 2014.

Newly Minted Maya Angelou Quarters Enter Circulation and Make History