Despite the pleasures of a three-day weekend, the second Monday in October has a highly contentious history. Although it was not celebrated at the federal level until 1934, the commemoration of Christopher Columbus’s first voyage became widespread at a time of intense anti-immigrant—particularly anti-Asian—sentiment. As historian Malinda Maynor Lowery put it, in the late 1800s,…
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Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Honoring Caroline Parker, Haudenosaunee Artist
October 8, 2021
Despite the pleasures of a three-day weekend, the second Monday in October has a highly contentious history. Although it was not celebrated at the federal level until 1934, the commemoration of Christopher Columbus’s first voyage became widespread at a time of intense anti-immigrant—particularly anti-Asian—sentiment. As historian Malinda Maynor Lowery put it, in the late 1800s,…
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Milk: Life, Death, and Women’s Work
September 3, 2021
How could such a simple substance like milk be a matter of life or death for infants? A special installation on view on the fourth floor of the New-York Historical Society through November, 28, 2021 explores how, at the turn of the 20th century, babies who were not breastfed faced mortal danger with every sip…
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How Journalists Ella Baker and Marvel Jackson Cooke Exposed Domestic Work’s “Slave Market”
September 1, 2021
While our exhibition Cover Story: Katharine Graham, CEO, is on view in the Joyce B. Cowin Women’s History Gallery, the Center for Women’s History is exploring the lives and professional experiences of women in media. For this installment, we’re diving into one of the most famous events in investigative journalism: when activist Ella Baker and…
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Milestones in the History of Women Governors
August 25, 2021
This week, Kathy Hochul was sworn in as the first female governor of New York State after Andrew Cuomo’s resignation. To mark the occasion, the Center for Women’s History is taking a look at some of the milestones in the history of women governors. Just as women have only just begun to crack the glass…
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Ruth Hale’s Fight for Her Name
August 13, 2021
For all of Ruth Hale’s attempts to preserve her name, the journalistic prodigy and innovator has mostly been lost to history. Indeed, if Hale is remembered today at all, it is mostly as a footnote in the biography of her better-known husband, Heywood Broun, a fate against which she fought fiercely while she lived. As…
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Nellie Bly’s “Ten Days in a Mad-House” and the Rise of Girl Stunt Reporting
August 3, 2021
In recent years, proponents of women’s history have grown increasingly vocal about the overwhelming lack of female statues in New York City. As the city works to redress this historic inequity, a new monument honoring pioneering journalist Nellie Bly is scheduled for completion in 2021. The Girl Puzzle by sculptor Amanda Matthews will be located…
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