Ynés Mexía: Botanical Trailblazer
This Mexican-American botanist fought against the harshness of both nature and society to follow her passion for plant collecting.
How Medieval Arabic Literature Viewed Lesbians
As far back as the ninth century, doctors and poets wrote about women who loved women without calling them deviants.
The Red Scare and Women in Government
In 1952, a government administrator named Mary Dublin Keyserling was accused of being a communist. The attack on her was also an attack on feminism.
What Was Women’s Liberation?
The short-lived radical movement within feminism has gotten a bad reputation for centering white women's experiences. Is that deserved?
Florence Nightingale, Data Visualization Visionary
The woman who revolutionized nursing was also a mathematician who knew the power of a visible representation of information.
How Annie Oakley Defined the Cinema Cowgirl
“Little Sure Shot” was famous for her precision, athleticism, and trademark femininity.
Women’s Clubs and the “Lost Cause”
Women's clubs were popular after the Civil War among white and Black women. But white clubwomen used their influence to ingrain racist curriculum in schools.
Is Childcare a Right?
Feminists supported universal childcare as a means of allowing women to advance in the workforce. But did this argument focus mostly on white women?
World War I Austerity Couldn’t Stop the Fashion Show
To the designer Lucile, luxury consumerism was a virtue as wartime economies struggled.
Meet Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective
Fictional detectives usually reflect conservative values. But the first "lady detective" story written by a woman broke boundaries.