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Women's History

Spc. Crisma Albarran volunteered for the U.S. Army. In the future, other women could be required to serve.

Women Won’t Register for the Draft After All

They’re gaining parity within the U.S. military—but women won’t yet be required to register for compulsory service in case of war

A national museum of women's history would celebrate the accomplishment of women like these members of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, who went on strike against non-union shoulder pads in 1930.

Trending Today

Why a Congressional Commission Wants a National Women’s History Museum

Will the American Museum of Women’s History ever become reality?

Gwen Ifill died today. She was 61.

Trending Today

Five Things to Know About Gwen Ifill

The late, great reporter turned curiosity into a career that changed journalism

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Today We Honor the Only Woman Who Ever Voted to Give U.S. Women the Right to Vote

100 years ago, Jeannette Rankin became the first woman elected to Congress

A 1933 Oil painting of the ill-fated aviator by Howard Chandler Christy.

Cool Finds

What to Make of Renewed Claims That Amelia Earhart Died as a Castaway

Reexamination of data from a 1940 skeleton, suggests that the long forearms may match those of the missing aviator

These Women Reporters Went Undercover to Get the Most Important Scoops of Their Day

Writing under pseudonyms, the so-called girl stunt reporters of the late 19th century played a major role in exposing the nation’s ills

Cornelia Fort was one of 1,074 women to fly for the Army Air Forces in the war.

A Pearl Harbor Disappearance May Finally Have Been Solved

Flight instructor Cornelia Fort faced a close call on that infamous day, but her plane was thought to have been lost to history

The Countess of Computing was the daughter of the Princess of Parallelograms.

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Five Things to Know About Ada Lovelace

The “Countess of Computing” didn’t just create the world’s first computer program—she foresaw a digital future

George Richmond made this chalk portrait of Brontë when she was 34 years old.

Cool Finds

Visit the Manuscript of ‘Jane Eyre’ in New York

The handwritten novel is in the United States for the first time—along with an exhibition of artifacts from Charlotte Brontë’s brief and brilliant life

An artist's representation of the Akelarre.

Visit the Site of the Biggest Witch Trial in History

Over 7,000 people were accused of witchcraft in Basque Spain

The low wages in the neighborhoods around Hull House can be seen in these maps, which illustrate income based on household. Each square shows an apartment building, and incomes are shown on the legend below. Black squares earned just $5 a week or less.

Cool Finds

These Early Infographics Illustrated the Plight of America’s Poor

Florence Kelley used hard numbers to effect change

Melba Roy led the group of human computers who tracked the Echo satellites in the 1960s.

Women Who Shaped History

The True Story of “Hidden Figures,” the Forgotten Women Who Helped Win the Space Race

A new book and movie document the accomplishments of NASA’s black “human computers” whose work was at the heart of the country’s greatest battles

Jackie Joyner-Kersee by Gregory Heisler, 1988

Commentary

Why We Have to Play Catch-up Collecting the Portraits of Female Athletes

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery is setting its sights on the future

Scenes from the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

The Paris Olympics

The Rise of the Modern Sportswoman

Women have long fought against the assumption that they are weaker than men, and the battle isn’t over yet

A few of the Olympians pose for a photo upon their return to the U.S. after the 1936 Games. In the back row, on the far right is Tidye PIckett and third from the left is Louise Stokes.

The Paris Olympics

Sports History Forgot About Tidye Pickett and Louise Stokes, Two Black Olympians Who Never Got Their Shot

Thanks to the one-two punch of racism and sexism, these two women were shut out of the hero’s treatment given to other athletes

Sojourner Truth, tech pioneer.

Cool Finds

How Sojourner Truth Used Photography to Help End Slavery

The groundbreaking orator embraced newfangled technology to make her message heard

Trending Today

Walmart Once Pulled a Shirt That Said “Someday a Woman Will Be President” From Its Shelves

While Hillary Clinton was living in the White House, no less

Madame President

History of Now

The History of Women Presidents in Film

Why the science-fiction genre was the first to imagine a female commander-in-chief

Cool Finds

These Anti-Suffrage Postcards Warned Against Giving Women the Vote

There are always those who resist societal change

Crowd outside the 1924 Republican National Convention in Cleveland listen to speeches broadcast from inside the hall via an early “public address system.”

100 Years of Women at the Ballot Box

Women Ruled the Floor When the GOP First Came to Cleveland

The 1924 Convention was the first to feature female delegates, and they made their presence known

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