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Women's History

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Looking Forward to the International Year of Chemistry

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Caroline Herschel: Assistant or Astronomer?

The Egyptian queen, shown here in a 19th-century engraving, sneaked back from exile and surprised Julius Caesar.

Rehabilitating Cleopatra

Egypt’s ruler was more than the sum of the seductions that loom so large in history—and in Hollywood

Field Beach, c. 1850s, Mary Blood Mellen.

Women Who Shaped History

The Grand Women Artists of the Hudson River School

Unknown and forgotten to history, these painters of America’s great landscapes are finally getting their due in a new exhibition

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50 Years of Chimpanzee Discoveries at Gombe

Fifty years ago today, Jane Goodall arrived at Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve (now Gombe National Park) in Tanzania

Frances Benjamin Johnston could be both ladylike and bohemian, which abetted her career as a photographer.

Victorian Womanhood, in All Its Guises

Frances Benjamin Johnston’s self-portraits show a woman was never content playing just one role

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Saying Goodbye to One of America’s Earliest Female Aviation Pioneers: Elinor Smith Sullivan

Ada Lovelace

Who Was Ada Lovelace?

As we celebrate our favorite women in tech today, take a look back at the woman who wrote the first computer program

A Level Playing Field for Science

I suppose, in a way, I should thank the woman who tried to compliment me when I was in high school by saying that I was too pretty for science

On the streets of Alexandria, Egypt, a mob led by Peter the Lector brutally murdered Hypatia, one of the last great thinkers of ancient Alexandria.

Hypatia, Ancient Alexandria’s Great Female Scholar

An avowed paganist in a time of religious strife, Hypatia was also one of the first women to study math, astronomy and philosophy

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Harriet Tubman Artifacts Donated to the Smithsonian

As the British neared the White House, Dolley Madison directed that a Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington be removed.

When Dolley Madison Took Command of the White House

It is thanks to the first lady that the famous Stuart painting of George Washington survived the British army’s invasion of D.C. in August 1814

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Elementary School Teachers Pass on Math Fear to Girls

Flying With America’s Most Famous Female Aviators

Dozens of talented women preceded Amelia Earhart, and thousands have followed, and each has her own groundbreaking story to tell

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Author Rohulamin Quander Writes About the First African American Sorority

From the runway, to the office, and now stored away in women’s dresser draws, pantyhose have gone through several life cycles.

50 Years of Pantyhose

Love them or hate them, the once-ubiquitous women’s accessory was a revolutionary invention that helped transform women’s fashion

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A Caricature of a Female Scientist

The play “Legacy of Light” tells the story of two female scientists, but left our blogger disappointed

Ramsey's trip across the United States took 59 days to complete and covered 3,800 miles.

Alice Ramsey’s Historic Cross-Country Drive

In 1909, 22-year-old Alice Ramsey made history as the first woman to drive across the United States

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Girls CAN Do Math (Duh)

Farmerettes of the Woman's Land Army of America took over farm work when the men were called to wartime service in WWI.

World War I: 100 Years Later

Before Rosie the Riveter, Farmerettes Went to Work

During WWI, the Woman’s Land Army of America mobilized women into sustaining American farms and building national pride

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