American Women's History Initiative
The Evolution of Pregnancy Portraits, From Tudor England to Beyoncé
A new show at the Foundling Museum in London highlights artists' depictions of pregnant women over the past 500 years
Why the Equal Rights Amendment Is Still Not Part of the Constitution
A brief history of the long battle to pass what would now be the 28th Amendment
For the First Time, a National U.S. Observatory Has Been Named for a Female Astronomer: Vera Rubin
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will image the entire visible night sky every few nights
Hattie Caraway, the First Woman Elected to the U.S. Senate, Faced a Familiar Struggle With Gender Politics
After Arkansas elected her in 1931, Caraway was ignored by her peers but hounded by the press
The New 'Little Women' Brings Louisa May Alcott's Real Life to the Big Screen
More so than in previous film adaptations, writer and director Greta Gerwig weaves the American writer's own experiences into the classic story
The Ten Best Science Books of 2019
New titles explore the workings of the human body, the lives of animals big and small, the past and future of planet earth and how it's all connected
The Ten Best History Books of 2019
Our favorite titles of the year resurrect forgotten histories and help explain how we got to where we are today
Smithsonian Elevates the Frequently Ignored Histories of Women
For many, the personal—tea cups, dresses, needlework and charm bracelets—really was political. A new book tells why
The True Story Behind the Harriet Tubman Movie
“Harriet,” a new film starring Cynthia Erivo, is the first feature film dedicated solely to the American icon
Watch the First All-Female Spacewalk
Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir will exit the International Space Station to replace a power controller that failed last weekend
Women Scientists Were Written Out of History. It's Margaret Rossiter's Lifelong Mission to Fix That
The historian has devoted her career to bringing to light the ingenious accomplishments of those who have been forgotten
Sculptor Edmonia Lewis Shattered Gender and Race Expectations in 19th-Century America
As the orphaned child of a black father and a Native-American mother, Lewis rewrote the 19th-century definition of sculptor
You Can Thank Chemist Stephanie Kwolek for Bulletproof Vests and Yoga Pants
The long-serving researcher at DuPont invented kevlar and contributed to spandex
The Actress Who Left the Stage to Become a Civil War Spy
Pauline Cushman, now featured in a Smithsonian photography exhibition, unexpectedly found herself spying for the Union after accepting a dare
How the Camera Introduced Americans to Their Heroines
A new show at the National Portrait Gallery spotlights figures including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Lucretia Mott and Margaret Fuller
The Voting Machine That Displayed Different Ballots Based on Your Sex
In an era of partial suffrage, these inventions helped women cast their votes
Women Have Been Voting in Wyoming for 150 Years, and Here Is How the State Is Celebrating
To mark the anniversary, Wyoming is delivering an impressive lineup of events, from a reenactment of the first vote to female-focused exhibits and retreats
New York City Monument Will Honor Transgender Activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera
The two women were instrumental in the 1969 Stonewall Uprising and spent their lives advocating for marginalized groups
The Americans Who Saw Lady Liberty as a False Idol of Broken Promises
Suffragists, African-Americans and Chinese immigrants all criticized the statue as representative of a nation that was not yet free for everyone
The Gendered History of Human Computers
It's ironic that women today must fight for equality in Silicon Valley. After all, their math skills helped launch the digital age
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