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
The origins of Women's History Month.
Chess Grandmastery: Nature, Gender, and the Genius of Judit Polgár
László Polgár raised all three of his daughters to become chess prodigies.
Nellie Bly, Girl Reporter
A look back on Nellie Bly and the era of "stunt-reporting."
The Fuss About Josephine Baker
A new one-woman Broadway show puts Josephine Baker back in the public consciousness.
The Immortal Life of Joice Heth: How P.T. Barnum Used an Elderly Slave To Launch His Career
P.T. Barnum's career as a Kentucky show man, began with his ownership and exploitation of African American slave Joice Heth.
3 Women Explorers You Should Know
Their names may not be widely recognized, but these three intrepid women explorers deserved broader acclaim for their accomplishments.
The Feminist History of Prohibition
A look at the feminist roots of the temperance movement.
From Enemy to Icon: The Life of Emma Goldman
While alive, Emma Goldman was considered an enemy of the state. In death, she became a celebrated American icon.
Women Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement
Women leaders of the Civil Rights movement worked under the triple constraints of gender, race, and class. Their contribution hasn't gotten its due.
Women Were Pirates, Too
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.
How Women Finally Broke Into the Sciences
Women finally broke into the sciences in sex-segregated jobs in the years between 1880 and 1910.
How Women’s Studies Erased Black Women
The founders of Women’s Studies were overwhelmingly white, and focused on the experiences of white, heterosexual women.
Phyllis Schlafly and the Meaning of Antifeminism
From today’s vantage point, many of the anti-feminist ideas Phyllis Schlafly espoused sound extreme. But are they?
Class and the Glass Ceiling
Feminism and "women's work" have looked very different for U.S. women depending on their class.
Seven Beautiful Illustrations of Women Scientists You Should Know
When we talk about inspiring girls to study STEM, do we also consider how important it is to ...
The Star-Studded Life of Ms. Dorothy Bennett
The wacky life story of the astronomer, author, children's book publisher, and anthropologist who restored an old barge on the Gowanus Canal in 1937.
Cheng I Sao, Female Pirate Extraordinaire
Learn more about Cheng I Sao, a female pirate (yes, women were pirates too!) dominated the coast of the Kwangtung Province between 1795-1810.
Amelia Earhart Taught America to Fly
Amelia Earhart taught America to fly. How Earhart and other women pilots of her day helped overcome Americans’ skepticism about flight.
Before the Civil War, Women Were Welcomed into the Sciences
You know how the story goes. Gender discrimination is baked into science, and women were barred from the ...
From the Mixed-Up History of Mrs., Miss, and Ms.
Language can reveal power dynamics, as in the terms of address, or honorifics, are used to refer to a woman's social status: Mrs., Miss, and Ms.
When Women Channeled the Dead to be Heard
Spiritualism was one of the nineteenth-century's most successful religious innovations, a movement of individuals who yearned for a religion which united mysticism and science.
The Grumpiness of Little Women
By focusing in on the characters’ emotions, a scholar discovers something more than good little women. She finds surprisingly angry ones.
How Women’s Suffrage Has Been Represented in American Film
Women's suffrage was usually portrayed negatively in early films, but suffragists well recognized the importance of movies in getting their message out.
How Prohibition Encouraged Women to Drink
During Prohibition, American women “made, sold, and drank liquor in unprecedented fashion,” writes historian Mary Murphy.
