National Women's History Museum

The National Womens History Museum is the nations leading cultural institution for the advocacy, exploration, and celebration of womens history. Our mission is profound: to revolutionize the perspective, potential, and power of women and girls.

We redefine the American narrative by amplifying the distinct contributions of women and painting a comprehensive, accurate picture of our nations past and present. A sanctuary of open discourse, we offer a trusted platform for dialogue on matters concerning women, girls, and marginalized communities.

We inspire curiosity and life-long learning, promote dialogue, and help break down barriers to understanding by:
-Reconsidering traditional methods of audience engagement in order to be inclusive of multiple learning styles, prior knowledge and life experiences, and generational differences;
-Consistently challenging single narratives in the Museums interpretation, education, public programs, and exhibition development because inclusive history is good history; and
-Centralizing issues that have remained on the margins of history and cultural narrative in order to help audiences discover the value and worth of telling the histories, stories, contributions and impacts of communities that have been marginalized, shut out, enslaved and/or silenced, so that a better future can be realized.

NWHMs award-winning website has interactive dynamic exhibits and static educational sections to engage visitors and provide educators and students with robust resources that explore the stories, challenges, and achievements of women past and present.

Further, because womens history has largely been left out of American textbooks, NWHM offers an array of tools and resources for educators who want to integrate womens history into their curriculum. NWHM has created lesson plans for educators to use in their classrooms that relate to our online exhibits and focus on themes such as Progressive and Colonial Eras, the Reform Movement, and Womens Crusade for the Vote. We also offer virtual classroom field trips, which allow teachers and students to interact with Museum staff in real-time (students especially love the question-and-answer period). NWHM also offers additional digital classroom resources, oral histories, biographies, and chronicles of American women history makers. In the next five years, we will increase and modernize our virtual and in-person educator resources to facilitate inclusive classroom learning and educator training.

In addition to our robust online resources, NWHM brings public programming across the country to increase audience reach and awareness. In 2023-2024, the NWHM is hosting a major in-person exhibition, We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist DC, in partnership with the Washington, DC Public Library. This free exhibit explores the lives and work of Black feminist activists in Washington, DC, who significantly influenced issues like voting rights, access to education, and civil liberties, making a difference in the lives of their DC communities and for all people throughout the United States. Over the next five years, NWHM plans to bring more of these exhibitions to locations across the country.

The success of our organization is due to the extensive experience, expertise, tenacity, and passion of our staff, Board, scholars, advisors, and partners.

Our president and CEO, Frdrique Irwin, has spent the last 15 of her 25-year career in the social impact sector driving equity for women through her work at The Sorenson Impact Institute, as well as her work serving women business owners through the founding of the social impact company, Her Corner.

Dr. Lori Ann Terjesen leads our team of experienced educators and renowned scholars who inform our programming, resources, and research. The Education Team brings a wealth of knowledge from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences for both our local community, as well as our national and international virtual audiences.

Jennifer Herrera spearheads communications and key partnerships for the organization. Her extensive leadership experience includes leading a gun violence prevention organization and working to support those impacted by sexual assault and domestic violence.

In addition to the Museums president, NWHMs active and experienced Board of Directors is dedicated to ensuring that the Museum and its programs become the leading place to learn, experience and enjoy womens history. Further, NWHMs National Coalition of more than 60 womens service and professional organizations represent more than 12 million women nationwide supporting its efforts.

From the beginning, the work of NWHM has centered on representation. What began as a successful grassroots campaign in 1996 to move a statue of suffragists back to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda has turned into more than two decades of bringing untold stories into the light.

In addition to spearheading successful lobbying efforts to create the forthcoming Smithsonian American Womens History Museum, in recent years, we have also served as lead consultants to the U.S. Mint on the American Women Quarters Program and created innovative, interactive programs during the global pandemic, including digital history experiences, educator and student support, and public programming.

Today, the NWHM hosts over 30 online exhibits and 250 original biographies and lesson plans. Our website attracts over 5 million website visitors annually, and our social media platforms boast over 600,000 followers. FIn 2023, NWHM launched our first major in-person exhibition, We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist DC, in partnership with DC Public Library. Over 12,000 individuals visited the exhibition in its first nine months, learning more about courageous female activists who significantly influenced issues like voting rights, access to education, and civil liberties.