The Beaufort Botanist and Her “Innocent Diversion”
Despite the twelve volume herbarium she created, this seventeenth-century scientist earned little recognition.
Frida Kahlo’s Forgotten Politics
Museum exhibitions of Frida Kahlo's work tend to focus on her personal style and persona. But Kahlo was intensely political, as were her paintings.
Regulating Sex Work in Medieval Europe
When sex work was considered a "necessary evil," legal brothels provided certain protections for the women who worked there.
Who Was La Malinche?
La Malinche was a key figure in the conquest of the Aztecs. But was she a heroine or a traitor? It depends on whom you ask.
Sorry, but Jane Eyre Isn’t the Romance You Want It to Be
Charlotte Brontë, a woman whose life was steeped in stifled near-romance, refused to write love as ruly, predictable, or safe.
Did Kongolese Catholicism Lead to Slave Revolutions?
The legacy of Kimpa Vita, a Kongolese Catholic mystic, was felt from the U.S. to Haiti.
The Divide in Feminist Ethics on Mothering
In the 1960s, two groups of feminists had very different views about motherhood. Unsurprisingly, race and family played a role.
When Harriet Beecher Stowe and George Eliot Were Penpals
These 19th-century novelists might seem to have little in common. But for 11 years they wrote each other letters, forging an unusual literary friendship.
Elizabeth Bishop
Exploring the text and subtext of Elizabeth Bishop's poems, inspired by a new biography called Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast.
Mary Shelley
Someone discovered a handful of previously unpublished letters written by Mary Shelley, stashed in private house in a small English village.