Celebrate Women’s History Month all March with JSTOR Daily. The month-long observance in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia recognizes the contributions of women around the world—and throughout history.
We hope you’ll find the stories below, and the scholarship they include in full, a valuable resource for classroom or leisure reading.
Dispatches From the Beginning of Women’s History
March 11, 2015
The origins of Women's History Month.
The Socialist Origins of International Women’s Day
March 8, 2019
Why is International Women's Day on March 8th? The answer is much more complicated than you might think.
The Top-Secret Feminist History of Tea Rooms
March 6, 2019
Nearly all American tea rooms were owned by women. They often opened up rooms in their homes or set up tables in their gardens.
Defying the Gender Binary in the 1930s
April 1, 2019
In the 1930s, experimental psychologist Agnes Landis interviewed women who identified as "tomboys."
Tsarist Russia’s Feminist Intelligentsia
December 11, 2019
In the context of Russia's patriarchal autocracy, its intelligentsia was surprisingly feminist, as Vera Podorovskaya's life illustrates.
Pulp Fiction Helped Define American Lesbianism
August 1, 2019
Between 1950 and 1965, steamy novels about lesbian relationships, marketed to men, inadvertently offered closeted women much-needed representation.
Jarena Lee, The First Woman African American Autobiographer
December 15, 2018
Jarena Lee was the first female preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1836, she published her autobiography.
The Beaufort Botanist and Her “Innocent Diversion”
March 5, 2019
Despite the twelve volume herbarium she created, this seventeenth-century scientist earned little recognition.
How Sacagawea Became More Than A Footnote
March 6, 2019
A suffragist searching for a heroine found Sacagawea and lifted her out of historical obscurity.
The Bluestockings
April 4, 2019
Meet the original Bluestockings, a group of women intellectuals. Their name would eventually become a misogynist epithet -- but it didn't start that way.
Who Was La Malinche?
March 1, 2019
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.
Nuns Don’t Have Midlife Crises
July 26, 2019
Why Benedictine nuns report higher levels of happiness and satisfaction than their non-monastic counterparts -- and what we can learn from them.
Cheng I Sao, Female Pirate Extraordinaire
July 13, 2017
Learn more about Cheng I Sao, a female pirate (yes, women were pirates too!) dominated the coast of the Kwangtung Province between 1795-1810.
How Colonialism Shaped Body Shaming
August 30, 2019
When did heaviness and curviness in women become connected with the idea of "savagery"? It has a lot to do with 19th-century imperialist world views.
Ada Lovelace, Pioneer
October 8, 2019
Ada Lovelace wrote extensive notes on the world’s first computer. Her innovations foreshadowed those used in twentieth-century PCs.
The End of Men, in 1870
December 2, 2019
In 1790, U.S. men were about twice as likely as U.S. women to be literate. But by 1870, girls were surpassing boys in public schools.
La Pelona: The Hispanic-American Flapper
January 13, 2020
Flapperismo was no more appreciated by Hispanic guardians of traditional femininity than it was by Anglo-American ones.
This Wrench Smashes Patriarchy: Women and Tools
February 8, 2020
After World War II, many women in industrial jobs put down their wrenches. But the spirit of Rosie the Riveter couldn't be denied.
How Judi Bari Tried to Unite Loggers and Environmentalists
February 23, 2020
The radical environmentalist had a background in labor organizing and wanted to end the misogyny of the movement and the logging industry alike.
Being a Victorian Librarian Was Oh-So-Dangerous
August 7, 2018
In the late 19th century, more women were becoming librarians. Experts like Melvil Dewey predicted they would suffer ill health, strain, and breakdowns.
W. B. Yeats’ Live-in “Spirit Medium”
December 5, 2018
In the Victorian era, a different kind of ghostwriting became popular—largely because it allowed men to take all the credit.
Rachel Carson’s Critics Called Her a Witch
February 21, 2019
When Silent Spring was published, the response was overtly gendered. Rachel Carson's critics depicted her as hysterical, mystical, and witchy.
Seven Beautiful Illustrations of Women Scientists You Should Know
August 8, 2017
When we talk about inspiring girls to study STEM, do we also consider how important it is to ...
From Enemy to Icon: The Life of Emma Goldman
January 11, 2016
While alive, Emma Goldman was considered an enemy of the state. In death, she became a celebrated American icon.
When Breastfeeding Was a Civic Duty
October 1, 2018
Think people are judgmental of mothers now? In the 18th- and 19th-centuries, mothers who bottle-fed their babies were blamed for many of society's ills.
Sor Juana, Founding Mother of Mexican Literature
June 28, 2019
How a 17th-century nun wrote poetry, dramas, and comedies that took on the inequities and double standards women faced in society.
Why White Women Tried to Ban Native American Dances
March 15, 2019
In the early 1920s, reformers obsessed over the sexual nature of some Pueblo rituals, and attempted to control their performance.
Ectoplasm and the Last British Woman Tried for Witchcraft
September 13, 2018
Spiritualist medium Helen Duncan was photographed emitting ectoplasm, supposedly proof of her ability to contact the dead.
Women Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement
February 25, 2017
Women leaders of the Civil Rights movement worked under the triple constraints of gender, race, and class. Their contribution hasn't gotten its due.
White Women’s Role in School Segregation
January 4, 2019
White American women have long played significant roles in maintaining racist practices. One sociologist calls the phenomenon "social mothering."
How Women’s Studies Erased Black Women
February 11, 2017
The founders of Women’s Studies were overwhelmingly white, and focused on the experiences of white, heterosexual women.
Women Were Pirates, Too
May 6, 2017
Maybe you've never heard of Anne Bonny and Mary Read, but they were real-life women pirates who cross-dressed to get on ships.
Two Women of the African Slave Resistance
August 25, 2017
African women, always a minority in the slave trade, often had to find their own ways of rebellion against slavery if they could.
The Tree Huggers Who Saved Indian Forests
March 27, 2019
The Chipko activists of 1970s and ‘80s India saved their forests by calling attention to the deep interdependence between humans and the natural world.
What Dorothy Porter’s Life Meant for Black Studies
August 22, 2018
Dorothy Porter, a Black woman pioneer in library and information science, created an archive that structured a new field.
The Immortal Life of Joice Heth: How P.T. Barnum Used an Elderly Slave To Launch His Career
December 2, 2015
P.T. Barnum's career as a Kentucky show man, began with his ownership and exploitation of African American slave Joice Heth.
Before the Civil War, Women Were Welcomed into the Sciences
August 21, 2017
Women in the STEM fields are reclaiming the memory of a richer scientific past than some might think.
When Death Was Women’s Business
January 11, 2019
In the 19th century, women called "watchers" tended to the dying and the dead.
3 Women Philosophers of the Enlightenment
January 9, 2020
They shaped the history of Western philosophical thought. It's past time to recognize their contributions.
3 Women Explorers You Should Know
December 17, 2015
Their names may not be widely recognized, but these three intrepid women explorers deserved broader acclaim for their accomplishments.
Class and the Glass Ceiling
August 26, 2016
Feminism and "women's work" have looked very different for U.S. women depending on their class.
The Feminist History of Prohibition
January 6, 2016
A look at the feminist roots of the temperance movement.
We’ll be adding more stories related to Women’s History Month throughout March.
