Thornton's handwritten memoirs recount the same period of her life.

Read the Dramatic 17th-Century Memoirs of Alice Thornton, Who Wrote Four Versions of Her Life Story

Researchers have digitized all four volumes, which are now available online. The autobiographies offer a compelling window into a tumultuous period in English history

Umpire Jen Pawol during a spring training game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Miami Marlins on March 16, 2024

Women Who Shaped History

Jen Pawol Is About to Become the First Female Umpire in Major League Baseball History

When the Atlanta Braves face off against the Miami Marlins this weekend, Pawol will become the first woman to umpire in a regular season MLB game

The hyper-realistic busts are on display at the Moravian Museum in Brno, Czech Republic.

New Research

See the Faces of Two Sisters Who Toiled Away in a Neolithic Mine 6,000 Years Ago

Archaeologists created 3D reconstructions of the women’s faces based on an analysis of their teeth and bones. Found in the Czech Republic, the siblings “did not have an easy life,” the new research suggests

Amelia Earhart stands in front of her Lockheed Vega flanked by two men in 1932

Amelia Earhart Made History in a Plane She Called Her ‘Little Red Bus.’ Here’s How It Became a Revered Museum Artifact and Hallowed Symbol

As the Smithsonian presents the aviator’s restored Vega in Washington, a special replica of the aircraft quietly re-emerges after decades in obscurity

Artist Franck Duval, known as FKDL, works on a mural Josephine Baker in Paris.

Women Who Shaped History

A Vibrant Mural Celebrating Josephine Baker’s ‘Two Loves’—‘My Country and Paris’—Has Been Unveiled in France

The colorful street art, which features a quote from one of her songs, honors the iconic singer, dancer and civil rights activist’s enduring legacy

An 1880 Harper's Weekly illustration titled Women at the Polls in New Jersey in the Good Old Times

America's 250th Anniversary

How Women in New Jersey Gained—and Lost—the Right to Vote More Than a Century Before the 19th Amendment Granted Suffrage Nationwide

Vague phrasing in the state’s Revolutionary-era Constitution enfranchised women who met specific property requirements. A 1790 law explicitly allowed female suffrage, but this privilege was revoked in 1807

The new study analyzed 131 skeletons dated to between 7100 and 5950 B.C.E.

Ancient DNA Reveals That Men Moved in With Their Brides’ Families in This Neolithic Settlement

A new study suggests that a 9,000-year-old society in Catalhoyuk, a proto-city in southern Anatolia, may have established a “female-centered” social structure

Foster + Partners, the firm selected to design the memorial, plans to build a bridge with a reinforced glass balustrade inspired by the tiara the queen wore on her wedding day.

A New Memorial Will Honor Elizabeth II With a Bridge Inspired by Her Diamond-Studded Wedding Tiara

A British architecture firm has been selected to design the queen’s memorial in London, which will include a translucent bridge that evokes her wedding tiara’s delicate silhouette

An engraving by Edward Savage, after Robert Edge Pine's 1784-1788 painting Congress Voting Independence

America's 250th Anniversary

These Daring Revolutionary-Era Artists Promoted the Patriot Cause From the Heart of Enemy Territory

A new book explores how painters, sculptors and writers, especially women and people of color, used their craft to advocate for American independence while living in George III’s capital city

Tove Jansson with Moomin dolls

A Bold Finnish Artist Brought These Precious Little Hippopotamus-Like Trolls to the World 80 Years Ago

Tove Jansson was a trailblazing illustrator and author—and the inventor of the beloved Moomins, the central characters of her whimsical children’s books

Pages from Eve Adams' Polish passport

LGBTQ+ Pride

America Deported Her for Publishing a Book Titled ‘Lesbian Love.’ Years Later, She Was Murdered by the Nazis for Being Jewish

Eve Adams, an immigrant and the proprietor of a 1920s lesbian tearoom, was imprisoned for disorderly conduct and obscenity, then sent back to Europe, where she became a target of the Holocaust

Wade in the Water, Stephen Towns, 2020

Women Who Shaped History

See the Artworks That Explore the Forgotten History of Harriet Tubman’s Civil War Triumphs

Tubman’s 1863 raid, which destroyed seven plantations along the Combahee River in South Carolina and freed 756 enslaved laborers, is now the subject of an exhibition in Charleston

A dormitory at the San Servolo psychiatric hospital in Venice in the early 1900s

Tens of Thousands Were Treated for a Deadly Disease While Confined to Psychiatric Hospitals on These Two Venetian Islands

In the 19th and 20th centuries, San Servolo and San Clemente housed patients suffering from pellagrous insanity, a condition caused by a vitamin deficiency

Mary Abbott in her Southampton, New York, studio, circa 1951

Women Who Shaped History

Mary Abbott Worked Alongside Abstract Expressionists Like Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock. Now, She’s Finally Getting Her Due

Abbott was an integral part of New York City’s mid-century avant-garde art scene, but her better-known male colleagues have long dominated the movement’s legacy

Frescoes, statues, graffiti and other artifacts show the many roles and rituals of Roman womanhood.

What Was Daily Life Like for the Women Who Lived in Ancient Pompeii 2,000 Years Ago?

A new exhibition is spotlighting the women who have long been sidelined in histories of the Roman Empire—from mothers and weavers to entrepreneurs and influential tavern owners

Frida Kahlo in 1944

A New Museum Dedicated to Frida Kahlo’s Early Years and Family Life Is Coming to Mexico City

The Museo Casa Kahlo will be located beside the popular Museo Frida Kahlo. It will display letters, artworks and mementos that shed light on the Mexican artist’s childhood

The Brontë children were born near this fireplace, pictured mid-renovation.

You Can Now Visit the Small House Where Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë Were Born

The newly renovated Brontë Birthplace in Bradford, England, was the three sisters’ home until 1820, when the family moved to a nearby parsonage

The Aska figurine is the only known depiction of pregnancy from the Viking Age.

New Research

How Did Vikings View Pregnant Women? New Research Reveals That They Were Sometimes Depicted With Weapons

Researchers studied Old Norse literature and archaeological evidence to shed new light on women’s experiences of pregnancy during the Viking Age

If marriage was just a piece of paper, then the bride’s gown could be one, too. “The ultimate disposable gown must be the paper wedding dress,” the Australian Women’s Weekly declared in 1967. “Why not? You only wear it once, anyway.” 

Would You Wear a Wedding Dress Made of Disposable Paper? These 1960s Brides Donned Them to Save Money—and Make a Daring Fashion Statement

Created with synthetic textiles, the “nonwoven” gowns could be shortened for the reception or easily packed away for the honeymoon

A parachute belonging to Broadwick is on display in the Early Flight gallery at the Smithsonian’s newly updated National Air and Space Museum. 

Pioneering Teenage Parachuter Georgia ‘Tiny’ Broadwick Showed That Courage Isn’t Counted in Pounds

The first woman to parachute from an airplane, she will be recognized in an exhibit when part of the newly renovated National Air and Space Museum reopens this year

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