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Women's History

Between 1930 and 1933, the U.S. government funded segregated trips to American military cemeteries in Europe for mothers and widows of fallen soldiers. This Gold Star Pilgrim is visiting a soldier’s grave at Suresnes American Cemetery, west of Paris.

Jim Crow Compounded the Grief of African American Mothers Whose Sons Were Killed in World War I

Smithsonian Books presents ‘We Return Fighting,’ a groundbreaking exploration of African American involvement in World War I

A retrospective centered on artist Judy Chicago is one of the many Feminist Art Coalition exhibitions slated for fall 2020.

Fifty U.S. Museums Champion Feminist Art Ahead of 2020 Election

Curators are banding together to organize feminism-inspired exhibitions and events in fall 2020

Though she looms large in the public imagination, Harriet Tubman has rarely received the attention afforded to similarly iconic Americans. A new biopic starring Cynthia Erivo focuses on the decade between Tubman's escape and the end of her Underground Railroad days.

Based on a True Story

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

For the first time in some 450 years, Nelli’s "Last Supper" is finally on public view

Renaissance Nun’s ‘Last Supper’ Painting Makes Public Debut After 450 Years in Hiding

The 21-foot canvas, created by self-taught artist and nun Plautilla Nelli, is now on view in Florence

NASA astronauts Christina Koch (left) and Jessica Meir (right).

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

Eileen Collins in space in 1995, when she became the first woman to pilot a space shuttle.

What It Was Like to Become the First Woman to Pilot and Command a Space Shuttle

Eileen Collins talked to Smithsonian about her career in the Air Force and NASA, women in aerospace and more

Charlotte Moore Sitterly made huge strides in our understanding of how atoms are structured and what stars, especially our sun, are made of.

Women Who Shaped History

How Charlotte Moore Sitterly Wrote The Encyclopedia of Starlight

The “world’s most honored woman astrophysicist” worked tirelessly for decades to measure the makeup of the sun and the stars

The Guggenheim Museum's Hilma af Klint exhibition was a surprise hit, eventually becoming the Manhattan institution's most-visited show of all time

Study Shows U.S. Museums Still Lag When It Comes to Acquiring Works by Women Artists

Between 2008 and 2018, artwork by women represented just 11 percent of acquisitions and 14 percent of exhibitions at 26 major museums

Margaret Rossiter's research spotlights the women in science whose intellectual contributions have not been given their due.

Women in Science

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

The late journalist Cokie Roberts recently visited the Smithsonian to discuss some of the presidents' wives in a new podcast "Portraits." If only, she remarked the First Ladies had been painted when they were young and vivacious, before they had gray hair.

Why Cokie Roberts Admired Dolley Madison

The legendary newswoman, who died at 75, appeared on a Smithsonian podcast earlier this summer to speak about a favorite topic, the first ladies

A New Monopoly Celebrates Women. But What About the Game’s Own Overlooked Inventor?

At the turn of the 20th century, Lizzie Magie created the Landowner’s Game, which sought to teach players about the injustices of wealth concentration

A digital reconstruction of Lilias Adie's face

Wanted: The Missing Bones of a Scottish ‘Witch’

Officials in Fife have put out a call for the remains of Lilias Adie, who died in prison in the early 1700s after being accused of witchcraft

Liane Russell conducted pioneering work into the harmful effects of radiation, and she also discovered that the the Y-chromosome determines maleness in mice.

Women Who Shaped History

Remembering Liane Russell, the Geneticist Who Studied Radiation’s Harmful Effects on Embryos

Russell’s pioneering research led to careful guidelines for administering radiological procedures to women of child-bearing age

Women Who Shaped History

Documentary Explores Pioneering Woman Director Written Out of Film History

Alice Guy-Blaché directed more than 1,000 films including the world’s first narrative film, but was expunged from the story of cinema

Stephanie Kwolek's initial ambition was not to be chemist at all.

You Can Thank Chemist Stephanie Kwolek for Bulletproof Vests and Yoga Pants

The long-serving researcher at DuPont invented kevlar and contributed to spandex

Actress Pauline Cushman (1833-1893) was a Union spy and became a major celebrity.

Women Who Shaped History

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

Janaki Ammal was a pioneering botanist who helped identify and conserve the biodiversity of India.

Women Who Shaped History

The Pioneering Female Botanist Who Sweetened a Nation and Saved a Valley

One of India’s finest plant scientists, Janaki Ammal spurred her country to protect its rich tropical diversity

Nearly 16,000 pages of letters, speeches, newspaper articles and other suffragist documents are now available on By the People.

Women Who Shaped History

The Library of Congress Needs Your Help Transcribing Suffragist Papers

Nearly 16,000 pages of diaries, letters, speeches and other documents are available on the library’s crowdsourcing platform

Artist's reconstruction of the Langeland grave.

Cool Finds

Viking Woman Warrior May Have Been Slavic

A new analysis of female Viking warriors suggests one found in Denmark was actually from the area of present-day Poland

Thanks to Bly's efforts, conditions at the women's asylum greatly improved

Women Who Shaped History

A Nellie Bly Memorial Is Coming to Roosevelt Island

The journalist famously wrote a six-part exposé cataloging the 10 days she spent at an asylum on Blackwell’s Island

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