Mary Anning

The Female Fossilist Who Became a Jurassic Period Expert

Dressed in a petticoat and bonnet, Mary Anning climbed precarious cliffs to find prehistoric fossils.
An unwrapped stick of butter

Women Made Butter a Behemoth

In the 19th century, butter production became a valuable way for women to profit off their farms-- and it soon became a major agricultural product.
Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, by Peter Lely

“Mad Meg,” the Poet-Duchess of 17th Century England

Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, shocked the establishment by publishing poems and plays under her own name.
Poster for Women's Day, March 8, 1914, demanding voting rights for women.

The Socialist Origins of International Women’s Day

Why is International Women's Day on March 8th? The answer is much more complicated than you might think.
Two waitresses at Kate Cranston's Willow Tea Room

The Top-Secret Feminist History of Tea Rooms

Nearly all American tea rooms were owned by women. They often opened up rooms in their homes or set up tables in their gardens.
Lewis & Clark with Sacagawea

How Sacagawea Became More Than A Footnote

A suffragist searching for a heroine found Sacagawea and lifted her out of historical obscurity.
Mary Somerset

The Beaufort Botanist and Her “Innocent Diversion”

Despite the twelve volume herbarium she created, this seventeenth-century scientist earned little recognition. 
Me and My Parrots by Frida Kahlo

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.
Brothel by Joachim Beuckelaer, 1562

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.
La Malinche (Young Girl of Yalala, Oaxaca) by Alfredo Ramos Martínez

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.