Women's History

Protections and regulations around contraception and abortion have been subject to laws and legislation in the U.S. since the 1800s. Prior to 1821, abortions were generally accessible and were often performed by midwives, as well as doctors. That changed as women’s reproductive ...read more

When Maya Angelou published 1969’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the bestselling autobiography that would be adapted into a television movie and make her a household name, she was already in her 40s with a variety of career experiences. Angelou was an actor, dancer, activist ...read more

The U.S. Supreme Court's 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey reaffirmed a woman's right to an abortion as granted in the 1973 Roe v. Wade case. However, the contentious 5-4 decision altered Roe and upheld a number of Pennsylvania abortion ...read more

Theodore Roosevelt is in many ways an unlikely feminist hero. Throughout his life and career, he embodied and celebrated a robust, distinctly masculine lifestyle: hunting on his ranch in North Dakota, charging up San Juan Hill with the “Rough Riders” in the Spanish-American War, ...read more

Before people typed addresses into Google maps, travelers charted their course by the sun and moon and other celestial bodies. When radios failed, and bad weather rolled in, the celestial navigational methods of Mary Tornich Janislawski helped save lives, especially during World ...read more

From 25 to 21 B.C. Amanirenas, a queen or Kandake of the Kingdom of Kush, managed to do what many male leaders in her time could not: push back a Roman invasion. Under Queen Amanirenas’ command, some 30,000 soldiers of the ancient Kingdom of Kush (located in modern-day Sudan) ...read more

Were there female gladiators in ancient Rome? While sparse, evidence exists in art, laws and written accounts that women did participate in the brutal sport during the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire, fighting each other fiercely with weapons for entertainment. But ...read more

Since the mid-19th century, organized feminist movements in the United States have called for greater political, economic and cultural freedom and equality for women. Yet not all of these movements have pursued the same specific goals, taken the same approaches to activism or ...read more

Clara Barton, a fearless humanitarian who helped revolutionize battlefield medicine, is celebrated for her lifelong dedication to helping others. She was a teacher, a nurse, an abolitionist, and a campaigner for women’s rights. And though it’s been more than 200 years since her ...read more

When Frida Kahlo was 18 years old, she seemed on the verge of claiming the life she’d imagined. The daughter of a German artist father and a Mexican mother, Kahlo had wanted to be a doctor since she was a child. She was pursuing that dream through her studies at the National ...read more

Long before—and during— the European colonization of Africa, ancient kingdoms and empires thrived for centuries on the continent. Some were headed by women, including female warriors who led armies against invading European powers to defend their people from conquest and ...read more

In the depths of the Depression, Joe Engel, the "Baron of Baloney," would do almost anything to promote his minor league baseball team. The owner of the Chattanooga (Tennessee) Lookouts traded a shortstop for a 25-pound turkey, placed singing canaries in grandstands, and featured ...read more

Women's sports were widely condemned in the 1890s. Modern Olympics Games founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin called the activities "indecent," and even bicycle riding by women was decried as "vicious" by The Atlantic, a prestigious magazine. But the norms of the era didn't deter a ...read more

Effa Manley, the only woman in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, was an advocate for Black athletes, a passionate supporter of baseball in the Negro leagues, a champion for civil rights and equality…and far ahead of her time. In an era when few women were involved in sports ...read more

In the words of Gussie Van Buren, one-half of the sister duo that first traversed America by motorcycle, “woman can if she will.” Here’s a look at some of the most inspiring women adventurers in history who flouted societal conventions, broke barriers and proved that women can ...read more

Title IX, the landmark gender equity law passed as part of the Education Amendments of 1972, banned sex discrimination in federally funded education programs. Its protections would open doors for girls and women in admission, academic majors, teaching positions, vocational ...read more