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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.
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Meet Hilma af Klint, the Occultist Who Believed Otherworldly Spirits Told Her What to Paint. Now, She’s Considered One of History’s First Abstract Artists
The Swedish painter created bold, vibrant works as early as 1906—several years before contemporaries like Wassily Kandinsky. A new exhibition in France celebrates her sweeping “Paintings for the Temple” series
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No Mere Muse, This Influential Surrealist Artist and Feminist Gets Her Due in a New Biopic and Art Exhibitions
Leonora Carrington’s life and work are celebrated with the new film “Leonora in the Morning Light.” Meanwhile, an exhibition at the Freud Museum showcases for the first time artwork she created inside a psychiatric hospital
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Faye Emerson Became the ‘First Lady of Television’ During the Medium’s Early Days. But Her Groundbreaking Success as a Late-Night Host Is Largely Forgotten Today
She rose to fame in the mid-20th century with “The Faye Emerson Show” on CBS, interviewing luminaries and speaking directly to viewers
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‘The Queen of the Ghetto’ Gave New York’s Immigrant Community a Voice. A Century Later, It’s Re-emerging
Anzia Yezierska wrote from experience then worked hard to make sure her work found an audience. Then a new audience found her
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Is This 1,800-Year-Old Mosaic the First Known Image of a Woman Fighting Wild Beasts in an Ancient Roman Arena?
The artwork was destroyed during World War I. But an archaeologist’s sketch may reveal a female figure wielding a whip and facing off against a leopard, a new study suggests
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Abigail Adams Asked Her Husband to ‘Remember the Ladies’ as He Drafted America’s Laws. Here’s What She Really Meant
She wrote the letter that would come to define her legacy on March 31, 1776. But 250 years later, Americans are misinterpreting her open-ended request
At the Smithsonian
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A new exhibition in Colchester, England, site of the first capital of Roman Britain, explores the “Lexden Lady” and her collection of treasures
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Visitors to the Yorkshire Museum can see artifacts from the Melsonby Hoard, dating to the first century C.E., that rewrite the story of wealth and power in Britain around the time of the Roman invasion
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How Sandra Day O’Connor Brought Compromise to the Supreme Court
The first woman justice to serve on the nation’s highest court died on Friday at age 93
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When Barbie Broke the Glass Ceiling
The iconic doll traveled to space, flew with the Thunderbirds and joined the NBA, beating real-life women to an array of career milestones
They Shaped Culture
The Swedish painter created bold, vibrant works as early as 1906—several years before contemporaries like Wassily Kandinsky. A new exhibition in France celebrates her sweeping “Paintings for the Temple” series
Leonora Carrington’s life and work are celebrated with the new film “Leonora in the Morning Light.” Meanwhile, an exhibition at the Freud Museum showcases for the first time artwork she created inside a psychiatric hospital
She rose to fame in the mid-20th century with “The Faye Emerson Show” on CBS, interviewing luminaries and speaking directly to viewers
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Found in Berlin, the artwork was probably damaged in the chaotic aftermath of World War II. Despite the gaping hole in the canvas, it could sell for upwards of $180,000 later this month
Women in STEM
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Cultural taboos around female sexuality have hindered research on the organ. But a new study provides pivotal insights that can inform important surgeries and health care
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This Aerospace Engineer Just Became the First Wheelchair User to Travel to Space
A brief commercial flight with space tourism company Blue Origin made Michaela “Michi” Benthaus’ childhood dream come true
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How Far American Women Astronauts Have Soared Since Sally Ride Took Her Historic Spaceflight
In 1978, Ride and five other women became the first group of female astronauts in the U.S. A new book by a longtime curator of spaceflight artifacts explores the nearly five-decade history of women in the space program
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How an 18th-Century Female Physicist Broke Boundaries and Inspired the Generations Who Followed
Cristina Roccati graduated from the University of Bologna when few other Italian women earned degrees, and she taught physics for decades
Future of Women's History
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Found in a Polish forest, the town of Stolzenberg appears to have been built around the turn of the 14th century. Surveys revealed evidence of a town square, a main street and a moat
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María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s ‘Iron Lady,’ Wins Nobel Peace Prize
Machado, who leads the Vente Venezuela opposition party against President Nicolás Maduro, was lauded for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela”
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‘Polar Preet’ Sets Out to Become the First Woman to Cross Antarctica Solo and Unsupported
After setting a record as the first woman of color to reach the South Pole unsupported last year, Preet Chandi is now tackling a 1,100-mile challenge