In 2019, for the first time in history, the majority of students in American medical schools were female. The battle for women’s access to the medical profession has been long and arduous since 1849, when Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to graduate from an American medical college. Even in 1969, women still only made…
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The First Women Doctors: Q&A with Author Olivia Campbell
July 12, 2021
In 2019, for the first time in history, the majority of students in American medical schools were female. The battle for women’s access to the medical profession has been long and arduous since 1849, when Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to graduate from an American medical college. Even in 1969, women still only made…
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Elizabeth Feinler and the History of the Internet
November 13, 2020
As we enter into the third season of this global pandemic, many of us have transitioned the bulk of our social lives online. And while some may still imagine a solitary hacker in their mind’s eye when they think of the internet, others envision a room crowded with people and ideas. The online space where…
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Resilience and Community: Filipino Americans, Nursing, and COVID-19
October 30, 2020
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…
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Behind the Halloween Mask: Power, Identity, and the Law in New York
October 26, 2020
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…
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“We Do Everything that the Brothers Do:” Women of the Young Lords
October 14, 2020
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,…
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What Women Can Do for America: Geraldine Ferraro and the Race for Veep
October 6, 2020
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…
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