How Training Bras Constructed American Girlhood
In the twentieth century, advertisements for a new type of garment for preteen girls sought to define the femininity they sold.
How Film Noir Tried to Scare Women out of Working
In the period immediately following World War II, the femme fatale embodied a host of male anxieties about gender roles.
Doris Day Changed Us Forever
What did women coming of age in the 1950s think of Doris Day in Calamity Jane? Does her filmography have the same meaning now?
The “Doctress” Was In: Rebecca Lee Crumpler
The first Black woman physician served communities in the South after the Civil War but was buried in an anonymous grave. That will likely change.
The World’s Fair That Ignored More Than Half the World
The spectacle of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 was unrivaled in its time. But it hardly represented the "world" of women and African-Americans.
Why Did the Suffragists Wear Medieval Costumes?
Medieval costume was a standard feature of US women’s suffrage parades, often with one participant designated as Joan of Arc.
New Jersey Let (Some) Women Vote from 1776 to 1807
Historians Judith Apter Klinghoffer and Lois Elkis argue that this wasn't oversight. New Jersey legislators knew exactly what they were doing.
How Judi Bari Tried to Unite Loggers and Environmentalists
The radical environmentalist had a background in labor organizing and wanted to end the misogyny of the movement and the logging industry alike.
Margaret S. Collins, Pioneering Black Entomologist
She was the first African American woman to earn a PhD in entomology as well as an activist for freedom in the Civil Rights Movement.
Madame Sul-Te-Wan’s Forgotten Brilliant Career
The mysteriously named Madame Sul-Te-Wan was the first black actress to land a Hollywood studio contract.