Written by: Michelle Sosa
Edited by Adina Vega and Genevieve Hammang
An image of women marching in Washington DC in support of the NWHM
In honor of Women’s History Month, we would like to highlight the National Women’s History Museum (NWHM), accessible on your computer! The virtual museum was founded in 1996, and its mission is to fill in the gaps in women’s contributions to our history. Women are often overlooked and/or omitted in history books and K-12 education. Therefore, the museum seeks to provide educational programming and content for students, parents, and teachers alike. The NWHM’s creation story describes how the founder–Karen Staser–felt driven to build momentum for the museum’s creation by moving a Suffrage statue formerly in the basement of the US Capitol to its original location in the Capitol Rotunda. This historical act happened on Mother’s Day weekend two decades ago. One can read all about it–including interviews with the women who participated–in this section of the museum’s website.
The We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist DC exhibit in Washington, DC.
Although most of the NWHM’s exhibitions are online, in March 2023, the first physical exhibit was launched in Washington, DC, at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. The exhibit’s name is We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist DC, and it documents black feminism throughout the turn of the 20th century. Some of the women highlighted in this exhibit include Anna Julia Cooper, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Mary Treadwell, and Nkenge Touré. The museum also commissioned a sculpture titled Glass Ceiling Breaker that honored Vice President Kamala Harris, which was on display from October 2022 to March 2023.
If you are interested in viewing other exhibits, you can visit the NWHM website to view all of the online exhibits from the comfort of your home. These exhibits include The Women of NASA, Pathways to Equality, New Beginnings, etc. Here, you will also find mainstream historical figures such as Harriet Tubman. Each exhibit includes mixed media comprising photographs, maps, animated images, and quotes. Overall, the museum performs continuous research to share with the public. In their latest campaign, titled She Is Not a Footnote, NWHM seeks to challenge gender gaps and the underrepresentation of women in history. Through this campaign, they released a report titled The Young Women and Girls’ Aspiration Report, which surveyed over 1,100 young women and girls. This report highlights the challenges that young women and girls face and the changes that must be made to mitigate issues such as wage gaps and healthcare. You can download and read the report here.
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