From Our Founder

A better world awaits the generation that absorbs what women and men have to share about life from a joint perspective. Global discrimination and violence against women will end. We have much to work toward…If we - and future generations - are to learn all the lessons of the past upon which to build the future, we must be aware of the true experiences and contributions of women. Clearly, men cannot get there alone. Together, all things are possible.

Karen Staser
Founder, National Women's History Museum

What is the National Women's History Museum?

The National Women’s History Museum (NWHM), founded in 1996, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit educational institution dedicated to preserving, interpreting, and celebrating the diverse historic contributions of women, and integrating this rich heritage fully into our nation's history. 

Although women constitute a majority of the population, their lives, achievements, and contributions are underrepresented in museums. Recognition of the achievements made by American women will promote a better understanding of our history and culture for all who visit Washington, D.C. In 1999, The President’s Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History called for a women’s history museum on the Mall in Washington, DC, and specifically cited the NWHM in that role. 

Obtaining a Permanent Site

During its eleven years as an organization, NWHM has worked hard towards obtaining a permanent museum site in the nation’s capital:

• After reviewing over 30 sites, the Board of Directors identified a vacant building strategically located on Pennsylvania Avenue near the National Mall. The currently unoccupied Pavilion Annex adjoined to the Old Post Office Building on Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, is under the control of the General Services Administration but can be leased to NWHM to serve as the permanent home of the National Women’s History Museum. 
  
  
• Most recently, on July 29th, 2005, the U.S. Senate passed S.501, the National Women's History Museum Act of 2005, by unanimous consent.  Senator Susan Collins introduced the bill with 20 cosponsors, including all of the female Senators.  The bill was referred to the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, but it was not enacted before the Congressional session ended in 2006.
  

Supporters

The NWHM has the support of a strong and diverse network of national organizations representing citizens throughout the country:

• The NWHM Honorary Board of Directors comprises over 200 members of the U.S. Congress and past and present members of the Cabinet.
  
  
• The NWHM has organized a National Coalition, currently numbering 32, of leading national women’s service and professional organizations.  Together these organizations reach over 8.5 million members. 
  
  
• Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, has spearheaded the NWHM national outreach campaign since September 2001.  In more recent years, actress Meryl Streep, who is also the national spokesperson for the Site Campaign, authored a membership appeal, and actress Laura Dern authored a new one that will go out this year. NWHM’s national membership has grown rapidly and is composed of approximately 36,000 people.
  
  
• Newsletter – The NWHM newsletter, A Different Point of View, is published quarterly and mailed to over 10,000 Museum members and supporters. The newsletter provides information on past and future educational events and programs sponsored by the Museum. The publication features seasonal stories about topics in women’s history and notable American women, as well as updates on the progress of the museum.
  
  

Highlights of Accomplishments

Even while in the process of procuring a permanent museum, NWHM has been able to provide an array of educational events and resources to the public and to its members. Following are some highlights:

2008

• A CyberExhibit entitled First But Not the Last: Women Who Ran for President was launched to celebrate Women's History Month.

• NWHM hosted an event at Sewall-Belmont House and Museum oin March 6 to celebrate the launch of the new CyberExhibit First But Not the Last.

 

 

2007

• A CyberExhibit entitled Women with a Deadline: Female Printers, Publishers, and Journalists from the Colonial Period to World War I was launched in Richmond, VA in association with the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW), a NWHM coalition member.

• An ambitious new project called The Chronicle of American Women was added to the NWHM Web site in May. The Chronicle is an online archive that will recognize the women who have contributed to the story of America, providing Museum members and supporters with the opportunity to create biographical profiles, tributes, and remembrances for themselves or for other special women. This archive will preserve women’s stories for future generations, and as it grows it will also be made available for academic research.

• A Cyber Exhibit entitled Building the New World: The Women of Jamestown Settlement was launched to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia in May.

• At the end of March, representatives of NWHM met with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson at a press event in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the Governor issued a statement supporting the establishment of a National Women's History Museum in Washington, D.C. NWHM also received support from Representative Carolyn Maloney, who toured the Old Post Office Pavilion Annex in March and pledged to continue assisting the Museum to obtain a permanent site.

• Members of NWHM and other guests attended a discussion of the book Belva Lockwood: The Woman Who Would be President at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars on March 22. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made introductory remarks, and author Jill Norgren lectured on Lockwood’s life and legacy. The event, which was followed by a reception, was co-sponsored by the Museum.

• On March 5, NWHM co-hosted the Policy Pioneers Reception at the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum on Capitol Hill.  The Sewall-Belmont House and the National Foundation for Women Legislators joined the museum in sponsoring the event.  The program recognized the political leadership of women from the state to the national level and was attended by women in Congress and dignitaries from around the world.
  
  
• An exhibit on the history of NWHM National Coalition organizations launched March 1st for Women's History Month.
  
  
• During February, NWHM's Web site went through the first phases of its redesign, with a new homepage layout including dynamic features such as "This Week in Women’s History," current news items, frequently changing highlights and photos, and a list of several women's history events occurring each week around the country.

• NWHM launched its first Cyber Exhibit of 2007 in January, Clandestine Women: Spies in American History. The online exhibit, which highlights American women who made significant intelligence contributions during America’s wars, is based upon NWHM’s temporary exhibit that was on display in 2002-2003.

2006:

• The Executive Committee of the National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL), a NWHM Coalition member, endorsed the passage of state-level resolutions supporting the Museum’s efforts to procure a building site. The NFWL also encouraged the continuation of lobbying at the national level for a permanent home for the Museum.
  
  
• NWHM continued to expand its online Cyber Museum in the fall by launching two exhibits: The History of Women in Education and Reforming their World: Women in the Progressive Era. The first explores the history of women’s education in the United States from the 18th through the 20th centuries. Reforming their World discusses women’s roles in the reform movement during the Progressive Era (1890-1920), when millions struggled with increasing industrialization and urbanization.
  
  
• During August , NWHM launched an online version of the exhibit Partners in Winning the War: American Women in World War II, which shows how women helped the war effort through their service in nearly every area of American life. The original Partners temporary exhibition was on display in 2004-5 at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
  
  
• Supporters of NWHM attended a performance of Little Women at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. in July. Before the show, NWHM hosted a reception at the 600 Restaurant in the Watergate Complex, where members were able to enjoy refreshments and mingle with Museum Board Members and staff.
  
  
• On April 17 and 19, NWHM co-sponsored women’s history lectures at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. The first event featured a panel discussion of the book An American Girl and Her Four Years at a Boys College, a semi-fictional account written in the 19th century. On April 19, authors Alisse Portnoy (Their Right to Speak: Women’s Activism in the Indian and Slave Debates) and Louise Knight (Citizen: Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy) discussed their newly-released books with other panelists who provided additional insight into these topics.
  
  
• Two new Cyber Exhibits were launched in Spring 2006. Women in Industry 1800-1945 examines the development of women’s participation in the paid labor force during three major periods: the Industrial Revolution (1800-1880), the Progressive Era (1880-1930), and the Depression/World War II Era (1930-1945). Rights for Women: The Suffrage Movement and its Leaders explores the history of the women’s suffrage movement in the 19th and 20th centuries.
  
  
• On March 2nd, 2006, at a National Press Conference, NWHM kicked off a grassroots, nation-wide campaign focused on having its legislation pass in the House of Representatives.  Representatives from many of the NWHM coalition came to show their support and seven of them gave statements voicing their support.  A sample of the press NWHM received after the conference included stories in the Washington Post, Associated Press, Univision, Roll Call and MSNBC as well as in online outlets like Yahoo News, Wired, and Women’s E- news.  The NWHM also received campaign coverage in states across the country and in Canada and the United Kingdom. 
  
  
• For this campaign, Meryl Streep filmed and narrated a 6-minute DVD that was delivered to the offices of most U.S. Representatives. An online petition to Congress launched on the NWHM Web site, allowing people to quickly sign and send a letter electronically to their Representatives.
  
  
• Twenty-five radio spots featuring important American women in history were recorded by former CNN Anchor Mary Tillotson and aired on radio stations across the country during March. (Both the film clip and radio spots are available for download from the NWHM Web site.) The radio spots were part of an ongoing public awareness campaign that included press releases and media coverage educating the public about the role of women in U.S. history.
  
  
• In 2006 a new educational section was added to the NWHM website that includes:
  - Lesson plans for teachers of all grade levels
  - Biographies of American women who have made important contributions to society
  - A suffrage quiz and timeline
  - Women’s history links
  
  
• Other upgrades to the Web site include:
  - a self-guided tour of historical sites relating to women’s involvement in the abolition movement in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.;
  - an events calendar page which provides information about women’s history-related events through out the country, categorized by state;
  - a page that provides background information about the NWHM Building Site campaign, including the text of the Senate Bill and Report. 
  
  
• On January 5th, 2006, NWHM hosted a reception after the performance of the musical Wicked (the untold story of the witches of Oz) at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts for NWHM members and the cast of Wicked.

2005-2004:

• In April of 2005, NWHM partnered with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to present a discussion on the life of Lou Henry Hoover. A panel of historians, including Nancy Beck Young, author of Lou Henry Hoover, Activist First Lady, offered historical perceptions and in-depth insight into Mrs. Hoover’s role.
  
  
• The most important programmatic initiative for 2004 - 2005 was the exhibition, Partners in Winning the War – American Women in World War II, that opened May 30, 2004 to coincide with the dedication of the World War II Memorial.  The exhibition focused on the often-forgotten contributions of American civilian women who served on the home front and the major contribution they made in the workforce, community and government, in both professional and voluntary capacities. The Partners Exhibition was on view through March 2005 at The Women’s Memorial located at the gateway to Arlington National Cemetery.
  
  
• Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton served as the keynote speaker for the opening of the exhibition and was joined by speakers from the Women’s Bureau U.S. Department of Labor, the National Foundation of Women Legislators, and members of the NWHM Board of Directors. Author Emily Yellin, author of Our Mothers’ War, a book about women in World War II served as MC. The audience included members of the NWHM National Coalition.
  
  
• A new cyber exhibit was added to the NWHM Web site in August 2004.  The history of American Women Olympians was unveiled in honor of those women who were pioneers and champions in past Olympiads as well as women competing in the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece.
  
  
• In honor of Women’s History Month, a self-guided tour of historic homes in the Washington D.C. area called The Good Old Days? debuted on-line in March 2004.

2003-2002:

• The NWHM was a Sponsor of the exhibition, Enterprising Women, which was shown at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. In November 2003, NWHM hosted a reception and exhibition viewing for NWHM members and friends.
  
  
• To celebrate Women’s Equality Day in August 2003, the NWHM launched an online self-guided tour in the metropolitan Washington, DC area called In Their Footsteps, which focused on historic sites associated with the women’s suffrage movement.
  
  
• The NWHM sponsored Off the Wall, a presentation of the life of Charlotte Perkins Gilman with the National Woman’s Party/Sewall-Belmont House and the division of the United States Studies of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars during National Women’ History month 2003.
  
  
• The NWHM and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery collaborated on events held in conjunction with the exhibition American Women: A Selection from the National Portrait Gallery in October 2002. 
  
  
• In March of 2002, the NWHM exhibition Clandestine Women: The Untold Stories of Women in Espionage opened at the Women In Military Service For America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery receiving attention in the national and international press.  Its run was extended to January 2003 due to popular demand.

2001 - 1996:

• The NWHM and the World Financial Center’s Arts & Events Program opened a traveling exhibit, Rights for Women, in New York City.  Curated by Edith P. Mayo, Curator Emeritus of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, the exhibit was displayed in the World Financial Center before its tour to other sites.
  
  
• NWHM Councils were formed in Alaska, Arizona, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York to coordinate educational outreach programs, recruit new members, and organize events.
  
  
• The NWHM formed The Women’s History Museums and Organizations Coalition to facilitate a collaboration of institutions dedicated to telling the story of women’s contributions to our society. Among its members is the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, NY.
  
  
• Senator Olympia Snowe and Representative Carolyn Maloney introduced a congressional resolution with broad bipartisan support to provide a building in Washington, DC for the National Women’s History Museum.
  
  
• Throughout the year 2000, members of Congress and their staffs attended the NWHM Congressional Education Luncheon Series in which speakers presented some of the Untold Stories of women’s contributions.
  
  
• The NWHM program Women Making History has conferred awards on Elaine Chao, Elizabeth Dole, Geraldine Ferraro, Billie Jean King, Helen Thomas, Marilyn vos Savant, Sandra Day O’Connor, and the Arizona women who simultaneously held five high state political offices in 1999.
  
• In 1999, The President’s (Clinton) Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History issued its report calling for a women’s history museum to be created on the Mall in Washington, DC and specifically cited the NWHM in that role.
  
  
• The NWHM launched its CyberMuseum in 1998on www.nwhm.org in partnership with the Bell Atlantic (now Verizon) Foundation.  A virtual exhibit, entitled Motherhood, Social Service, and Political Reform: Political Culture and Imagery of American Women Suffrage, broke new ground in educational outreach.
  
  
• In 1998, nationally recognized scholars and museum professionals convened for the sole purpose of developing the formal program of the NWHM.
  
  
• The NWHM was a lead participant in the 150th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage in Seneca Falls, NY, including a key role in the unveiling of a specially commissioned statue of Sojourner Truth, 19th century civil and women's rights activist.
  
  
• As its first major achievement, the NWHM spearheaded the effort with other women’s organizations to raise $85,000 and generate public support to move this monument of Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony out of its 76‑year confinement in the Capitol Crypt to the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol.  Now over 4 million visitors a year can see the contributions of these leaders of the Women’s Suffrage Movement.

 

 

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National Women's History Museum
Administrative Offices
205 S. Whiting Street Suite 254
Alexandria, VA 22304
703-461-1920
info@nwhm.org

Copyright © 2007 National Women's History Museum.