Smithsonian American Women's History Museum

This Native American Heritage Month we're commemorating the life of Zitkala-Ša (Yankton Dakota Sioux, 1876-1938), who is featured on the newest U.S. quarter! Through 2025, the American Women Quarters™ Program celebrates the accomplishments and contributions made by women of the United States with new quarters released by the United States Mint in partnership with our museum. ➡️ Join us on Friday, November 29 at National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, to mark Native American Heritage Day and the release of the Zitkala-Ša quarter with hoop dancer Starr Chief Eagle. https://s.si.edu/48uPFE4 Zitkala-Ša was a gifted violinist and composer, accomplished author, and advocate for American Indian rights. Her activism led to the passage of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, which granted American Indians US citizenship while maintaining their tribal standing. Zitkala-Ša died on January 26, 1938, in Washington, DC, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. #SmithsonianNAHM

Join us from 11 a.m. - 2p.m. EDT! https://s.si.edu/3NuAYau

As a result of congressional fellow Emily Card’s efforts, on October 28, 1974, Congress passed the Equal Credit Opportunity Act which made it illegal for banks to discriminate in lending based on sex or marital status. Hear more from Smithsonian curator Rachel Seidman, PhD, and Emily Card, to learn how the ECOA came to be and its impact on women’s lives in “We Do Declare: Women’s Voices on Independence.” https://s.si.edu/4ekBFhL #OnThisDay

We’re launching "We Do Declare: Women’s Voices on Independence," a multi-year oral history and education project that explores the multifaceted meaning of independence to women in their own lives over the past 50 years through the lens of economic power. Timed with today’s 50th anniversary of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), which made it illegal for banks to discriminate against women applying for loans based on their sex or marital status, our first set of oral histories commemorate this important historical milestone for women and their economic independence. Learn more about how the ECOA came to be from the woman who helped pass the law, and those who benefitted from its passage. https://s.si.edu/48mNQJe

Born #OnThisDay in 1830, attorney and social justice activist Belva Lockwood was a trailblazer for women's rights. She became the first woman to run for president in 1884. She was also the first woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court. A champion for women's suffrage, she ran for president as the Equal Rights Party nominee decades before women won the right to vote in 1920. She ran again in 1888. In this portrait, the artist Nellie Mathes Horne emphasized Lockwood’s intellectual achievements, representing her in the academic robes she received with her honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Syracuse University in 1909. https://s.si.edu/4fh1EHs 🖼️: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; transfer from the Smithsonian American Art Museum; gift of the Committee for "A Tribute to Mrs. Belva Ann Lockwood" through Mrs. Anna Kelton Wiley, 1917

Suffragist, educator, and politician Nina Otero-Warren was born on #OnThisDay 1881. In 1918, Otero-Warren became superintendent of public schools in Santa Fe County, making her the first woman government official in New Mexico. In 1922, she ran for Congress under the Republican Party of New Mexico but lost to the Democratic candidate by less than 9%. 🪙 In 2022, she was honored with her own U.S. quarter as part of our American Women Quarters™ Program in partnership with United States Mint. Read more: https://s.si.edu/3BSWoeJ 📷: Portrait of Adelina Otero-Warren from the Library of Congress. Glass-plate negative by Bain News Service, [1923]. Prints and Photographs Division; U.S. Mint Photo by Amanda Crastz-Flores

Our first digital exhibition "Becoming Visible: Bringing American Women's History Into Focus" is nominated for an Anthem Award! The Anthem Community Voice Award aims to engage the public in meaningful initiatives and raise awareness of finalists' transformative changes. Revisit the exhibition, which explores the uneven process of women becoming visible in American history through the stories of five remarkable women from the past.

"Queen of Salsa" Celia Cruz was born #OnThisDay in 1925. During a career that lasted more than 60 years, Cruz helped popularize salsa music in the United States. By celebrating her Cuban culture, she also helped Afro-Latino Americans embrace their own heritage. As a lead singer of Cuban orchestra La Sonora Matancera, Cruz performed across Latin America. Cruz arrived in the U.S. in 1961. She became one of few women to succeed in the male-dominated world of salsa music. Cruz performed salsa in Spanish, celebrating her Afro-Latino culture during the U.S. Civil Rights movement. She won five Grammy Awards. 🪙 This year, she was honored with her own U.S. quarter as part of our American Women Quarters™ Program in partnership with United States Mint. https://s.si.edu/4ffGNVb 📷: Celia Cruz was honored with the Smithsonian's James Smithson Bicentennial Medal in 2001.

Join us for a Wikipedia edit-a-thon on women, credit, and financial power to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which prohibited lenders from discriminating against consumers based on their sex or marital status. Learn about Emily Card, a legislative fellow who wrote the 1974 bill. Less than 20% of biographies in English-language Wikipedia are about women. With your help, we are working to change that. New editors are encouraged to attend the introductory session at 11am. This event is presented with support from Wikimedia DC. ➡️ October 28, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. EDT. RSVP: https://s.si.edu/3NuAYau

Come join the team at the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum! We’re working to expand the story of America through the often-untold accounts and accomplishments of women individually and collectively—to better understand our past and inspire our future. We’re looking for dedicated individuals to help us create space for women’s history on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., deepen our nation’s stories, and inspire conversation, connection, and change. We are seeking an Advancement Associate who can provide technical and administrative support and assist with a full range of advancement functions including drafting documents and presentations, conducting donor research, and assisting with donor prospect management, assisting with the national volunteer network, membership program, donor events and meetings, and board meetings; as well as performing data management, gift processing, stewardship, procurement, travel arrangements and other related administrative tasks. Applications for consideration will be accepted through October 30, 2024. Click here to apply: https://s.si.edu/4h5aU3i