March is Women's History Month
The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in commemorating and encouraging the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history.
Because of Her Story
The American Women's History Initiative will amplify women's voices to honor the past, inform the present and inspire the future.
The stories we tell deepen our understanding of women’s contributions to America and the world, showing how far women have advanced and how we as a country value equality and the contributions of all our citizens.
(Smithsonian Institution)
Read the stories »
Image Credit: Smithsonian Institution, Office of Communications & External Affairs
Women's History Site from the National Park Service
From the lives of young, immigrant women who worked the textile mills at Lowell National Historical Park to those of the female shipyard workers who were essential to the home front during World War II at Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historic Park, women's history can be found at every park. If you want to understand our nation's history, explore the remarkable legacies of American women.
Women's History at America's National Parks »
Image Credit: Detail of . . . [Mural: Women of the Wiregrass, 126 N. St. Andrews Street, Dothan, Alabama] (Library of Congress)
Woman's History Site from the National Archives
The National Archives celebrates Women's History Month, recognizing the great contributions that women have made to our nation. Learn about the history of women in the United States by exploring their stories through letters, photographs, film, and other primary sources.
Explore the site »
Image Credit: Women Marching in Suffragette Parade, Washington, DC (National Archives)
The Women of Four Wars
The limited but important roles women played in Korea and Vietnam paved the path to more expanded -- and in some cases more dangerous -- specialties in recent wars.
Find out more about women in the military »
Image credit: Color digital image of Lee Lane in uniform sitting in the cockpit doorway of a helicopter (Library of Congress)
For Teachers
Put the power of primary sources to work in the classroom. Browse ready-to-use lesson plans, student activities, collection guides and research aids.
Educational resources »
Image credit: Encre L. Marquet by Eugène Grasset, 1892 (Library of Congress)
2019 Exhibitions
Smithsonian Institution
March 4, 2019 - February 2020
All Work and No Pay: A History of Women's Invisible Labor
Explore the history of women’s work in the home and the value and implications of unwaged labor. Costumes meant for domestic work from colonial America to the 1990s and objects from various ethnic communities and classes highlight how women shared similar tasks across race and class despite the complicated dynamics and inequalities between them.
(National Museum of American History)
Smithsonian Institution
March 29, 2019 - January 5, 2020
Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence
This exhibition will outline the more than 80-year movement for women to obtain the right to vote as part of the larger struggle for equality that continued through the 1965 Civil Rights Act and arguably lingers today. Thematic explorations are complemented by a chronological narrative of visual biographies of some of the movement’s most influential leaders.
(National Portrait Gallery)
National Archives
May 10, 2019 - January 3, 2021
Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, this exhibition highlights the relentless struggle of diverse activists throughout U.S. history to secure voting rights for all American women.
Library of Congress
June 4, 2019 - September 2020
Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote
Documents, images, video and audio recordings will trace the movement leading to the passage of the 19th amendment and will consider the divergent political strategies and internal divisions the movement overcame.
Library of Congress
Opening in December 2019
Rosa Parks
This will be the first major exhibition to showcase the Rosa Parks Collection, which came to the Library of Congress in 2014. The collection includes thousands of pages of Parks’ personal correspondence, letters from presidents, her writings from the time of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and about 2,500 photographs, as well as her Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal.
Additional Events
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