Sixteenth century portrait painting of Caterina Sforza

Did Caterina Sforza Flash an Army?

According to legend, Sforza lifted her skirts to show her adversaries that she had the body parts to make more children. But why?
J. Marion Sims: Gynecologic Surgeon, from "The History of Medicine"

Legacies Lost and Found

Say Anarcha tells the story of the enslaved women experimented on by a self-aggrandizing gynecologist. Its related online archive aims to reinvent the nature of bibliography.
An image from the Wasmuth Portfolio drawn by Marion Mahoney

Marion Mahony Griffin, Prairie School Architect

A founding member of the Prairie School, Mahony defined the movement’s now-familiar aesthetic for a global audience.
The entrance of the National Association Opposed To Woman Suffrage's headquarters

Women Against Women’s Suffrage

The fight for women’s suffrage is often depicted as pitting women against men. But some women made it their life’s mission to campaign against it.
League of Women Voters representatives gather around a table on a sidewalk while writing and mimeographing news releases to hand out at train stops en route to the Democratic Convention.

The League of Women Voters Takes On the Environment

Having won the right to vote, some suffragists moved on to fight water pollution and protect the environment.
Lunchroom in Chicago, 1896

How Gender Got on the Menu

As women began to be welcomed into restaurants, some started catering to what they perceived as “female tastes,” largely meaning the sugary stuff
Antique illustration: Sleeping at sea

The Women Who Preached in Their Sleep

Was sleep-preaching an ingenious way for oppressed women to subvert the social order through somniloquy?
Marie Stopes in her laboratory, 1904

Counting Orgasms With Marie Stopes

Before gall wasp expert Alfred Kinsey turned to the study of human sexuality, another biologist made her move.
Connie Converse

Connie Converse Wasn’t Just a Folk Singer. She Was a Scholar, Too.

The disappeared—but recently rediscovered—folk musician edited and published in academic journals under the name Elizabeth Converse.
A woman smiles while holding bottles of various types of alcohol, including peach brandy, port wine, gin, absinthe, and forbidden fruit.

Whiskey, Women, and Work

Prohibition—and its newly created underground economy—changed the way women lived, worked, and socialized.