Smithsonian American Women's History Museum

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

✍️ In the early 1900s, science as a profession was largely inaccessible to women. Despite societal constraints, a few pioneering women found a path to contribute through illustration. Drawing was a decidedly “womanly” pastime in the early 20th Century, so illustration became an acceptable avenue for women to document and interpret the natural world despite the gender bias in traditional scientific roles. These are the stories of four women—Violet Dandridge, Aime Motter Awl, Carolyn Bartlett Gast, and Marilyn Schotte—in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Department of Invertebrate Zoology who broke through the gendered barriers of science and made significant contributions to scientific discovery through art. Read more: https://s.si.edu/3YabST8 1️⃣,3️⃣ Illustration of the lateral view of a feather star (Ptilocrinus pinnatus) by Violet Dandridge published in “A Monograph of the Existing Crinoids” by Austin Hobart Clark in 1915. 2️⃣ Image courtesy of Bedinger Family History and Genealogy. 4️⃣ Illustration of a new species of crab, Aegla parana, by Amie Awl featured in a publication by Waldo Schmitt in 1942. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution. 5️⃣ Illustration of a Loriciferan (Pliciloricus enigmaticus) by Carolyn Gast from the publication describing this new species in 1986. Discovering new phyla is rare; Loricifera was only the third new phylum discovered in the 1900s. Image courtesy of Higgins & Kristensen, 1986. 6️⃣ Marilyn Schotte at her retirement party in 2009. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Department of Invertebrate Zoology. 7️⃣ Schotte’s illustration of Malacanthura schotteae featured in Kensley’s original 1982 publication, “Revision of southern African Anthuridea.” Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution.

We're expanding the story of America, through the often-untold accounts and accomplishments of women and girls, to better understand our past and inspire our future. Because we all benefit from a deeper historical understanding of our nation. Mark International Day of the Girl with a gift—a commitment to our mission to create space for women's history on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Become a charter member today: https://s.si.edu/3WKkWyF #DayOfTheGirl 📷: Smithsonian Libraries and Archives

Fannie Lou Hamer's grassroots efforts during the early 1960s laid the groundwork for the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Born into a sharecropping family #OnThisDay in 1917, Hamer was the youngest of 20 children and the granddaughter of enslaved people. In 1963, Hamer and several other activists were arrested and beaten in Winona, Mississippi, as they were returning from a voter’s workshop. Hamer went on to speak at the 1964 Democratic National Convention, and her passionate speech set in motion a series of events that led to the 1965 passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act. Hamer’s ascent into national acclaim challenged the preconceptions of many of her colleagues and foes whose conception of leadership did not include an impoverished and disabled Black woman with limited formal education. Read more: https://s.si.edu/3zRDHYc 📷: Collection of Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture © Estate of Matt Herron

With the passage of 1974's Equal Credit Opportunity Act, women could apply for and receive credit cards and loans in their own name. Hear more from Director Elizabeth C. Babcock, PhD, and curator Rachel Seidman, PhD, on the Smithsonian's flagship podcast "Sidedoor" season 11 episode 2 as they explore the law's impact on women's financial independence in honor of the law's 50th anniversary this month. Listen now on all podcast streaming platforms. https://s.si.edu/3ZQt3f9

Working with fiber has often been dismissed by many art critics as domestic labor, but the artists in "Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women" at the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery subvert and complicate this historical marginalization. The artists in the exhibition transformed fibers into intricate artworks depicting not only the diversity of their craft but also their experiences and perspectives as women. The accessibility and familiarity of fiber provided an avenue to explore, reimagine, and redefine relationships. ➡️ The exhibition, which received funding from our museum, is on view at the Renwick Gallery through January 5, 2025. Read more: https://s.si.edu/3NbR2Of "The Principal Wife Goes On" by Sheila Hicks, 1969, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of S.C. Johnson & Sons, Inc. "Virgen de los Caminos" by Consuelo Jimenez Underwood, 1994, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase "Winning" by Emma Amos, 1982, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by the Catherine Walden Myer Fund

In 1934, musician Lydia Mendoza recorded "Mal Hombre," a breakthrough hit song of Tejano music. As Mendoza's career progressed, she became known as the first "Queen of Tejano." This Hispanic Heritage Month, learn about Mendoza and others who shaped American culture. #SmithsonianHHM https://s.si.edu/4eMbpxl

War correspondent Lee Miller, who captured some of the most harrowing photographs of World War II, began her career as a fashion model and later, a Surrealist photographer. Born in 1907 in Poughkeepsie, New York, Miller was exposed to photography at an early age by her father. After attending Vassar College, Miller began modeling in the 1920s. Discontent with life in front of the camera, she moved to Paris in 1929 and began studying photography with Surrealist artist Man Ray. In 1939, Miller’s relationship with Surrealist artist and author Roland Penrose brought her to London where she met the editor of British Vogue, Audrey Withers. Miller began her transition to photojournalism as the destruction of World War II bore down on London. Through Vogue, she published several photo-essays about the women’s branch of the British Army. As a correspondent for the U.S. Army, she captured haunting images D-Day, the liberation of Paris, and the U.S. military's entry in concentration camps. Miller died from cancer in 1977, and her son, Anthony Penrose, has worked to preserve of her photographs and legacy. His first book, "The Lives of Lee Miller," has been adapted into a major motion picture, "Lee," starring Kate Winslet. https://s.si.edu/4gJLuIr 📷: Six war correspondents who covered the U.S. Army in the European Theater during World War II appear together in this 1943 photograph. From left to right: Mary Welch, Dixie Tighe, Kathleen Harriman, Helen Kirkpatrick, Lee Miller, and Tania Long. U.S. Army Center of Military History, image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

¡AZÚCAR! Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate “Queen of Salsa” Celia Cruz! Our event with National Museum of the American Latino and Smithsonian National Museum of American History in honor of the latest coin in the American Women Quarters™ Program featured salsa lessons, a dance party with all-woman salsa band Lulada Club, Cruz objects on display, a presentation from United States Mint to Cruz's family, and more. A cultural icon, Cruz was one of the most well-known Latin artists of the 20th century and helped popularize salsa music in the U.S. #SmithsonianHHM https://s.si.edu/4dfo0rC 📷: Richard Strauss, National Museum of American History; Jill Westeyn, United States Mint