Center for Women's History

Women activists with signs for registration, 1956
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Frances Albrier Collection. © Cox Studio

Upcoming Exhibitions

Cover Story: Katharine Graham, CEO
May 21 – October 3, 2021

Native New Yorker Katharine Meyer Graham (1917-2001) never expected to become the president, publisher, and CEO of the Washington Post, but she thrived in that position—and even helped end a war and a corrupt U.S. presidency by revealing the Pentagon Papers and Watergate to an outraged public. On display in the Joyce B. Cowin Women’s History Gallery, this exhibition examines a transformative period in Graham’s life, as her devotion to the Post helped her grow from a self-effacing widow into an authoritative, decisive media executive. 

Past Exhibitions

Women March
February 28 – January 24, 2021

Women March celebrates the centennial of the 19th Amendment—which granted women the right to vote in 1920—as it explores the efforts of a wide range of women to expand American democracy in the centuries before and after the suffrage victory. Their collective action has taken many forms, from abolitionist petitions to industry-wide garment strikes to massive marches for an Equal Rights Amendment. This immersive exhibition features imagery and video footage of women’s collective action over time, drawing visitors into a visceral engagement with the struggles that have endured into the 21st century.

What Women Can Do for America - Geraldine Ferraro and the 1984 Presidential Campaign
December 17, 2019 - Extended

In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro (1935–2011) became the first woman nominated for national office by a major political party when presidential nominee Walter Mondale announced her selection as his running mate. Ferraro’s candidacy represented a political watershed for women in politics. Only a century earlier, Victoria Woodhull and Belva Lockwood had been the first two women to run for president.

Artist in Exile: The Visual Diary of Baroness Hyde De Neuville
November 1, 2019 – January 26, 2020

Self-taught and ahead of her time, Anne Marguérite Joséphine Henriette Rouillé de Marigny, Baroness Hyde de Neuville (1771–1849) was the first woman artist in America to leave a substantial body of work. Granted exile by Napoleon, she first made her mark in New York City and later Washington, D.C., and her art celebrates the people and scenes of the early American republic, documenting the young country’s history, culture, and diverse population. The first serious consideration of her life and art, this exhibition showcases more than 100 watercolors and drawings, including many that were recently discovered. A scholarly catalogue accompanies the exhibition. 

LIFE: Six Women Photographers
June 28, 2019 – October 6, 2019

For the editors of LIFE—the first magazine to tell stories with photographs rather than text—the camera was not merely a reporter, but also a potent commentator with the power to frame news and events for a popular audience. For decades, Americans saw the world through the lens of the magazine’s photographers. Between the late 1930s and the early 1970s, LIFE magazine retained few women photographers as full-time staff or on a semi-permanent basis. LIFE: Six Women Photographers showcases the work of some of those women and how their work contributed to LIFE’s pursuit of American identity through photojournalism. The exhibition features more than 70 images showcasing the extraordinary work created by Margaret Bourke-White, Hansel Mieth, Marie Hansen, Martha Holmes, Nina Leen, and Lisa Larsen. 

How were these women part of a larger editorial vision? What topics did they cover, and how did their work reflect—and sometimes expand—the mission of the magazine? The exhibit reveals these photographers’ important role in creating modern photojournalism and defining what LIFE editor-in-chief Henry Luce called the “American Century.” Curated by Sarah Gordon, curatorial scholar in women’s history, Center for Women’s History, and Marilyn Satin Kushner, curator and head, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections; with Erin Levitsky, Ryerson University; and William J. Simmons, Andrew Mellon Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellow, Center for Women’s History.

Ladies' Garments, Women's Work, Women's Activism
February 22 - July 21, 2019

The story of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union and its role in shaping women’s activism is explored through garments, objects, documents, and photographs in this special installation. Through their work, the ILGWU and its women organizers shaped women’s movements across the 20th century, from the suffrage movement of the 1910s to the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. 

Betye Saar: Keepin' it Clean
November 2, 2018 –  May 27, 2019

Contemporary artist Betye Saar has shaped the development of assemblage art in the United States, particularly as a device to illuminate social and political concerns. A key figure in the Black Arts Movement and the feminist art movement of the 1960-70s, Saar’s distinct vision harmonizes the personal and the political. Over the years, Saar has transformed the representation of African Americans in American culture by recycling and reclaiming derogatory images such as Aunt Jemimas, Uncle Toms, sambos, and mammies to confront the continued racism in American society and create representations of strength and perseverance. This exhibition focuses on one facet of her work—washboards—created between 1997 and 2017. Presented in the Joyce B. Cowin Women’s History Gallery, part of the Center for Women’s History, the exhibition is organized by the Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles.

Walk This Way: Footwear from the Stuart Weitzman Collection of Historic Shoes
April 20, 2018 –  October 8, 2018

Shoes in recent years have culturally transcended their utilitarian purpose to become an object of desire and deliberation, calling up abstract considerations—like the freighted meanings of femininity, power, domination, and aspiration—for both women and men alike. Walk This Way: Footwear from the Stuart Weitzman Collection of Historic Shoes highlights examples from the shoe designer’s extensive private collection, assembled over three decades. 

Hotbed
N​ovember 3, 2017 - March 28, 2018

Hotbed explores the vibrant political and artistic scene of Greenwich Village in the early 20th century, where men and women joined forces across the boundaries of class and race to fight for a better world. At the heart of the downtown radicals’ crusade lay women’s rights: to control their own bodies, to do meaningful work, and above all, to vote.

The Duchess of Carnegie Hall: Photographs by Editta Sherman
August 18, 2017-October 15, 2017

Art was a business and a calling for photographer Editta Sherman (1913-2013). After her husband’s death in 1954, she worked tirelessly to maintain the portrait photography business that they had established. Working—and living—in one of the artist studios above Carnegie Hall for more than 60 years, Sherman charmed her celebrity clients with a vivacity and warmth that was reflected in the portraits of her subjects.

Saving Washington
March 08, 2017-July 30, 2017

As the inaugural exhibition in the Joyce B. Cowin Women’s History Gallery, Saving Washington recasts the traditional Founding Fathers narrative to consider the less-examined contributions of women whose behind-the-scenes efforts helped implement the Constitution “on the ground.” In spite of laws restricting their broader participation, elite and non-elite women alike sought various avenues for empowerment, activism, and leadership.