Smithsonian Voices

From the Smithsonian Museums

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Bernice Johnson Reagon's Lessons for Living

Bernice Johnson Reagon’s life offers us lessons to navigate an unjust world and work toward change. From her role as a Civil Rights activist to her transformative curatorial position at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Reagon demonstrated how songs and musical traditions, particularly those of the oppressed and marginalized, can transform the world.

Women in Blues Event

What's Happening in August: Events, Exhibits and Resources

Portrait of Anna May Wong. Wong wears a yellow dress and gazes to the side of the frame. She delicately holds a red folding fan behind her head.

Anna May Wong's Long Journey From Hollywood to the Smithsonian

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Has Someone Else Ever Made a Decision That Affected Your Body?

Three cards where visitors left handwritten messages invoking girl power. One card reads: “you think we're not good enough but we're just to [sic] good for you, girl power.”

What Does 'Girl Power' Really Mean?

Black velvet leotard with crystal bead detailing at neck

Designing Kristi Yamaguchi's Costume to Sparkle Under the Spotlight

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Ella at the Gala

Lousian Mamer

What Do Refrigerators Have to Do With Women's Empowerment?

Anti-suffrage pennant

Why a Social Activist Opposed Woman Suffrage

Ruth Bader Ginsburg at a Smithsonian event.

Join the Smithsonian to Honor Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Portrait of Madam C. J. Walker, taken in 1915.

How Madam C.J. Walker Changed Philanthropy

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Celebrate Black History Month With These Virtual Events

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When Computer Programming Was 'Just Like Planning a Dinner

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Maggie of the Boondocks

Rea Ann Silva with an oversized version of the Beautyblender sponge (Courtesy of Beautyblender)

How Rea Ann Silva Invented the Beautyblender—and Changed Makeup Forever

Girlhood (It’s complicated) opened to the public on October 9, 2020. Artwork by Krystal Quiles for NMAH.

Why Did the Smithsonian Create an Exhibit About Girlhood?

Rebecca Lukens (National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum, Coatesville, Pennsylvania)

How Rebecca Lukens Became the Nation's First Woman Industrialist

Robert Abbe's hourglass (NMAH)

Curing Cancer with a Single Gram of Radium

Leo Baker's personalized skateboards (NMAH)

How LGBTQ Skateboarders Have Carved Out a Place at the Park

Speaker’s card advertising Walker’s services as a lecturer. Walker described herself as

Mary Walker, the Original "New Woman"

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