Women at the Center

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the ways we live and work. Since March, many Americans were told to work from home, many were left unemployed, and many frontline workers continued to go to work to provide essential service—including nurses, a profession historically dominated by women. Today, 90 percent of nursing jobs in the United States…

In any year but 2020, Halloween is an exciting opportunity to don a mask. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has made masking a serious public health responsibility and a partisan flashpoint, rather than a fun costume prop. This year, as images of masked marchers for racial justice are juxtaposed with violent protests against pandemic-related mask mandates, the question…

In 1970, the New York Times published a feature story on the revolutionary Puerto Rican organization the Young Lords. The article noted the unusual gender dynamics at play and claimed that the women among the group’s membership may be “the most liberated women in town.” One of the leaders, Iris Morales, was quoted as saying,…

As Senator Kamala Harris prepares for the upcoming vice-presidential debate with Vice President Mike Pence, our minds turn to other women who have vied for the Veep spot. The Center for Women’s History special installation, What Women Can Do for America: Geraldine Ferraro and the 1984 Presidential Campaign, explores the story of one of these…

The Center for Women’s History mourns the passing of legal titan and hometown luminary, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. For some time, we have been deep into research and preparations for a museum exhibition in her honor planned for next year, and wanted to share the audio recording from a 2014 public program at…