Women's History

Alicia Vikander as Catherine Parr in Firebrand, an upcoming film from director Karim Aïnouz

Watch the Trailer for 'Firebrand,' a New Drama About Henry VIII's Sixth Wife, Catherine Parr

Karim Aïnouz’s film features Alicia Vikander and Jude Law as the Tudor queen and king

An 1890 portrait of Lizzie Borden

How Lizzie Borden Got Away With Murder

Class, nativism and gender stereotypes all played a role in Borden's acquittal for the 1892 killings of her father and stepmother

Josefina "Joey" Guerrero (third from right) received the Medal of Honor With Silver Palm for her actions during World War II, which were “instrumental in saving the lives of many Americans and Filipinos,” according to the award citation.

This Filipina Spy Used Her Leprosy as a Cover to Thwart the Japanese During World War II

Enemy soldiers overlooked Josefina "Joey" Guerrero due to her condition. Later, her heroic actions on behalf of the Allies were largely forgotten

Ada "Bricktop" Smith's clubs attracted high-profile visitors, including Cole Porter, the future Edward VIII and Elizabeth Taylor.

At Her Globe-Spanning Nightclubs, This Black Entertainer Hosted a 'Who’s Who' of the 20th Century

Ada "Bricktop" Smith, who operated venues in Rome, Paris and Mexico City, brushed shoulders with the likes of Langston Hughes, Salvador Dalí and Gertrude Stein

Hazel Ying Lee (right) and fellow pilot Virginia Wong (left)

This Chinese American Aviatrix Overcame Racism to Fly for the U.S. During World War II

A second-generation immigrant, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Chinese American woman to receive her pilot's license

Suzan-Lori Parks' Sally & Tom makes its New York debut on April 16.

This Play Within a Play Confronts the Power Dynamic Between Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson

In "Sally & Tom," Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks continues her investigation of American myths

Ringgold was best known for her colorful "story quilts," an art form anchored in narrative storytelling and influenced by Black American artistic traditions.

Pioneering Artist Faith Ringgold Stitched Together Stories of Black Life

The Harlem-born painter, who died this week at age 93, elevated the everyday lives of Black Americans and fought for representation in major museums

"Change Your Game / Cambia tu juego" looks at scores of innovations that improve performance, ensure safety and more accurately score games.

From the JogBra to Gatorade to Breakaway Basketball Rims, Sports Are a Field for Invention

A new exhibition at the National Museum of American History aims to inspire the next generation of innovators

Karlya Shelton, front and center, with the swans, performing George Balanchine's choreography for a Tchaikovsky serenade in 1979.

In the Face of Prejudice, the ‘Black Swans’ Took the Ballet World by Storm

A new book shows how pioneering ballerinas captivated audiences and broke racial barriers

Attributed to artist Pierre Eugène du Simitiére, the drawing depicts the Continental Army’s North Carolina Brigade marching through Philadelphia on August 25, 1777.

Rare Eyewitness Sketch of American Revolutionaries Found Hanging in a Collector's Bedroom

The drawing, which the owner recently donated to a museum, depicts the North Carolina Brigade passing through Philadelphia in 1777

Couriers’ duties included fetching patients from cabins, weighing babies, delivering medicine, cleaning saddles and bridles, and escorting any guests who rode the routes between FNS outposts.

Why Debutantes Volunteered to Be Horse-Riding Couriers in Rural Kentucky

Between the 1920s and 1940s, wealthy young women signed up to run errands and carry messages for the Frontier Nursing Service, whose nurse-midwives provided care to patients in hard-to-reach areas

The Horse Fair by French artist Rosa Bonheur hangs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. 

Five Museums Unveil Audio Guides Celebrating Lesser-Known Women Artists

The project—titled Museums Without Men—debuted in the U.S. and the U.K. during Women's History Month

Heterodoxy's illustrious members included (clockwise from top right) Marie Jenney Howe, Susan Glaspell, Crystal Eastman, Rose Pastor Stokes, Doris Stevens, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Rheta Childe Dorr.

The All-Woman Secret Society That Paved the Way for Modern Feminism

Based in Greenwich Village, Heterodoxy had just one requirement for membership: An applicant must "not be orthodox in her opinion"

Regina King as Shirley Chisholm in Shirley, a new film written and directed by John Ridley

The True History Behind Netflix's 'Shirley' Movie

A new film dramatizes Shirley Chisholm's history-making bid to become the first Black woman president in 1972

Mabel Boll, nicknamed the "Queen of Diamonds" (left), failed to cross the Atlantic before Amelia Earhart (right).

When Amelia Earhart and the 'Queen of Diamonds' Raced to Become the First Woman to Fly Across the Atlantic

Mabel Boll, a wealthy New York socialite, dreamed of making aviation history. But Earhart beat her to the finish line, completing the trans-Atlantic journey as a passenger in June 1928

An illuminated manuscript illustration of Marie de France, a 12th-century poet

How Medieval Women Expressed Their 'Forbidden' Emotions

Upper-class women used letters and embroidery to reflect on their inner lives

Artist Françoise Gilot was a talented painter, but her work never achieved widespread recognition in France.

Françoise Gilot's Artistic Career Persisted Long After She Left Picasso. Now, She's Getting an Exhibition in Paris

At the Picasso Museum, the talented painter's artistic legacy is finally getting the recognition it deserves

Hazel Fellows sews pieces of an Apollo A7L spacesuit on the production line at International Latex Corporation (ILC) in 1968.

From the Inventor of Mass-Market Paper Bags to a Scientist Who Unraveled the Mysteries of Polio, Meet Five American Women Whose Remarkable Achievements Have Long Been Overlooked

The inaugural exhibition at the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum seeks to shine light on lesser-known historical figures

Princess Dashkova (center) exchanged letters with Benjamin Franklin and befriended Catherine the Great.

This Russian Noblewoman, Beloved by Catherine the Great and Benjamin Franklin, Embodied the Age of Enlightenment

Princess Dashkova led research institutes, wrote plays and music, and embarked on a Grand Tour of 18th-century Europe

Two unidentified Gullah Geechee women photographed by Lorenzo Dow Turner in the early 1930s

How the Memory of a Song Reunited Two Women Separated by the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

In 1990, scholars found a Sierra Leonean woman who remembered a nearly identical version of a tune passed down by a Georgia woman’s enslaved ancestors

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