NWHM Newsbytes

The National Women’s History Museum (NWHM) will hold a national contest for a new logo and branding designs for the Museum. Read more...

September 28, 2007: The NWHM will hold a meeting with its coalition members to update them on the museum’s progress towards securing a building site.

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and 18 co-sponsors reintroduced the NWHM Building Site legislation in the Senate. The legislation would allow the NWHM to lease the vacant Annex of the Old Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue and turn the space into a museum. Read more...

July 21, 2007 - The National Women's History Museum announced the election of its officers for 2007-2008 at its Annual Meeting. Read more...

July 1, NWHM Board Member Linda Denny became the new president of NWHM National Coalition Member The Women's Business Enterprise National Council. Read more...

NWHM National Coalition Member MANA – A National Latina Organization held their annual Educational and Training Conferenceover Memorial Day weekend in Santa Fe, New Mexico. NWHM Board member Alma Morales Riojas, as President of MANA, hosted the three-day conference, and NWHM President Susan Jollie attended on behalf of the Museum. Read more...

Southwest Airlines President Colleen Barrett is a long-time supporter of the National Women's History Museum. NWHM profiled Ms. Barrett on our website in April when she was named as the recipient of the 2007 Tony Jannus Award in recognition of her contributions to the commercial aviation industry. Ms. Barrett graciously acknowledged our news item. Read more...

The National Women's History Museum has registered with GoodSearch, a Yahoo-powered search engine that allows users to designate a charity, school, or non-profit to receive a donation each time they search the Web. Read more...

Be sure to visitthe NWHM's new online archive , The Chronicle of American Women, to share stories about the important women in your life! Many museum supporters have begun to create Chronicle pages for their mothers, grandmothers, and other inspiring women. As more and more women are added to the archive, the Chronicle will keep getting better and better. Read about suffragist and activist Elisabeth Freeman. Read about independent businesswoman Frieda van Duyn. Learn how you can create your own Chronicle tribute!

On the afternoon of May 7, 2007, NWHM President Susan Jollie attended an event sponsored by NWHM National Coalition member organization the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC). Read more...

During the month of May, visit the Jewish Women's Archive's new online feature "This Day of American Jewish Heritage" or browse through their archives, digital collections, and oral history project.

Colleen Barrett, President of Southwest Airlines and long-time supporter of the National Women's History Museum, has been chosen to receive the 2007 Tony Jannus Award honoring her contributions to the commercial aviation industry. Read more...

Two accomplished speakers from the National Women's History Museum graced a Women’s History Month Special Observance Event at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on March 28. NWHM President Susan Jollie and Board Member Brigadier General Wilma Vaught (USAF, Ret.) were invited to address OPM employees about women in federal service, civilian and military, respectively. Read more...

A delegation of representatives from the National Women's History Museum (NWHM), the National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL), and NWHM Coalition organizations took a whirlwind trip to Santa Fe on March 23 to participate in a press conference and photo op with New Mexico Governor and Democratic Presidential candidate Bill Richardson. Read more...

Along with the National Women's Law Center and the George Washington University Women's Studies Program, NWHM co-sponsored a standing-room-only book launch panel discussion and reception at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars on March 22, 2007. Author Jill Norgren discussed her new book, Belva Lockwood: The Woman Who Would be President, with an introduction by Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Read more... A video of the event is available online.

On March 22, 2007, Women's E-News covered the NWHM's quest for a permanent museum site. Read the article.

On March 15, eight-term Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) toured the proposed site of the National Women’s History Museum with NWHM President Susan Jollie, Board Members Linda Denny and Joan Wages, and National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL) President Robin Read. Read more...

On March 5, NWHM co-hosted the Policy Pioneers Reception at the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum on Capitol Hill. The Sewall-Belmont House and the National Foundation for Women Legislators joined the museum in sponsoring the event. The program recognized the political leadership of women from the state to the national level. Read more...

The Embassy of Finland in Washington hosted an invitation-only “Suffrage Birthday Bash” on March 8, International Women’s Day. The celebration commemorated the 90th anniversary of the National Women’s Party and the centenary of Finland’s universal suffrage. Read more...

NWHM is proud to announce the redesign of its website (www.nwhm.org) for Women’s History Month 2007. With a new look and added content, the museum has raised its profile and is becoming a premier source of educational materials on women’s history. Read more...

NWHM LAUNCHES NEW CYBER EXHIBIT HIGHLIGHTING
THE HISTORIES OF ITS NATIONAL COALITION MEMBERS

Through much of the nation’s history, women have come together in voluntary service and professional organizations. In the process, they helped transform communities and the nation and the story of women’s history is in part a story of what these organizations have accomplished. Many of these organizations that have come together to form the NWHM Coalition support efforts to build the National Women’s History Museum. Learn about them in The History of the NWHM National Coalition Organizations Cyber Exhibit, which launched in March 2007.

The National Women's History Museum continues to add new exhibits to fill in the missing pieces of American history. Women have served effectively in the shadowy world of espionage as couriers, guides, code breakers, intelligence analysts, and as spies. NWHM's new online exhibit that launched at the end of January 2007, Clandestine Women: Spies Throughout American History highlights American women who made significant intelligence contributions during the American Revolution, Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Cold War.

The U.S. Senate approved legislation on December 6 directing the Joint Committee on the Library to accept and display a donated statue of Sojourner Truth in the United States Capitol Building. Truth, a leading 19th century abolitionist and suffragist, will be joining her contemporaries Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott as one of the few women and as the first African American woman to be so honored on Capitol Hill. Read More
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This September, NWHM proudly announces the launch of a new cyber exhibit The History of Women in Education to correspond with students returning to school. The exhibit traces women's education options in the 1700's, 1800's, and 1900's and includes several biographies of important women to the education movement. The exhibit was researched, written, and produced by NWHM Summer 2006 Intern Albrey Diece.

On Friday, August 25, 2006, Emmy-Award-winning reporter Hillary Howard interviewed NWHM President Susan Jollie and NWHM Board Member and women’s historian Doris Weatherford on the Washington Post Radio for the anniversary of woman suffrage. August 26 is proclaimed “Equality Day” each year to mark the anniversary of the ratification in 1920 of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. Read more..

August 26th is the anniversary of national woman suffrage and is designated as Equality Day. Read about Equality Day, find Equality Day events in your area, and read Presidential Proclamations for Equality Day from the past 12 years. To celebrate Equality Day, you can also view NWHM's new cyber-exhibit Rights for Women: The Suffrage Movement and Its Leaders.

The National Women’s History Museum is proud to announce the addition of four new members to the Museum’s Board of Directors. “We’re delighted to add such a distinguished group of women to our Board,” said Museum President Susan Jollie. “Their accomplishments and diversity will serve us well as we move forward to secure a permanent home for the Museum." The new Board Members are Johanna Hardy, Director, Legislative Affairs for Rolls-Royce North America, Inc; Alma Morales Riojas is President and CEO of MANA; Margaret Alexander Parker, Founder and President of The Alexander Company; and Doris Weatherford, leading women's historian and women's history author.

Over the summer of 2006, NWHM launched two cyber exhibits, one examining the history of the woman suffrage movemetn and the other looking at women's role during World War II. Read more...

NWHM is proud to announce the launching of a new "Members Only" section of the Web site as a new membership benefit. On the Web page, members can gain inside information on the legislative efforts of NWHM, access archived newsletters (the quarterly newsletters are a membership benefit), and view additional images of past events and exhibitions. Members were sent a password they can use to access the page. If you are interested in becoming a member, $25 per year, please send us an e-mail at staff@nwhm.org or write to us at PO Box 1296, Annandale, VA, 22003.

NWHM Coalition Members show support of the NWHM legislation for a permanent museum site. Read more...

At the beginning of June 2006, NWHM staff received a letter from one of our members, sharing why he is a member of NWHM. Read Tom Sweet's letter to NWHM.

NEW GSA CHIEF VOICES SUPPORT FOR NATIONAL
WOMEN’S HISTORY MUSEUM IN WASHINGTON

Lurita Doan, the newly named Administrator of the General Services Administration, said May 22nd, 2006, at her confirmation hearing with the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, that it would be a “privilege” to work with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) in support of the development of the Old Post Office Annex on Pennsylvania Avenue for the establishment of the National Women’s History Museum (NWHM). Read more...

NWHM PRESIDENT SUSAN JOLLIE ATTENDS DIRECTOR'S FORUM ON
THE CHALLENGE OF BUILDING THE NATIONAL
MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE

On May 16th, 2006, NWHM President Susan Jollie and NWHM Program Director Holly Kearl attended a Director's Forum at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, where they listened to Lonnie G. Bunch II, the director of the new Smithsonian museum the National Museum of African American History and Culture, speak about the challenges that his organization has faced, is facing, and will face in building a new museum - and she found that the African American Museum's experiences are in many ways similar to the NWHM's. Read more...

In March 2006, Susan Jollie and NWHM Program Director Holly Kearl met with a George Washington University Advanced Interior Design class from the Master's Program to discuss the class's upcoming project on designing the interior of the Annex of the Old Post Office - NWHM's desired museum space....Two months later in May, the GWU class presented their finished project to Ms. Jollie, staff, and board members. Read more...

For Mother's Day, Fox News interview NWHM President Susan Jollie about the NWHM campaign for a women's history museum where women, including mothers, can be honored. The news clip is particularly focused on the NWHM fundraiser the Roll of Honor and Remembrance, which allows people to honor their mothers and other female role models by donating $25 to the museum and then the honoree's name is displayed on the NWHM Web site and later will be displayed in a permanent place at the museum. Click HERE to view the 1 minute video clip

In April 2006, the Hibbing, Minnesota, chapter of the American Association of University Women held a ceremony honoring the women workers at Eveleth Mines who filed the first class-action sexual harassment lawsuit. Their story became the basis for the 2005 movie North Country. NWHM President Susan Jollie wrote a letter commending their efforts and the letter was read at the ceremony and each woman received a copy. Each woman was presented with a NWHM button with the quote, " Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History." Read about the event, the story behind North Country and Jollie's letter....

The National Women’s History Museum launched a nationwide Campaign on March 2, 2006, at the National Press Club to promote enactment of The National Women’s History Museum Act during this session of Congress. The NWHM's 31 member National Coalition of over 8 million women (including the newest member Federally Employed Women) have joined NWHM in calling for women and men around the country to express their support of the passage of the National Women’s History Museum Act. Read more...

THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S HISTORY MUSEUM ANNOUNCES A CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN TO DESIGNATE THE VACANT ANNEX NEXT TO THE OLD POST OFFICE PAVILION AS A PERMANENT MUSEUM SITE

The National Women’s History Museum (NWHM) announces efforts to raise public awareness of women’s history and urges Congress to pass The National Women’s History Museum Act. Read more...

Women’s rights leader and activist Betty Friedan passed away on February 4th, 2006, at the age of eighty-five. Read more...

NATIONAL MALL SITE IS CHOSEN FOR THE NATIONAL
MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE

On January 30, 2006, the Smithsonian's Board of Regents approved a museum site for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Congress, which has had the museum under consideration since the 1980's, instructed the Regents to choose from four sites, two on the Mall and two nearby. The location they have selected is at the southwest corner of 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, a central location near the Washington Monument. NWHM extends its congratulations to the Museum! Read more...

Civil rights leader Coretta Scott King passed away early this morning, January 31, 2006, at the age of 78. Read more....

Smithsonian Magazine has named NWHM Membership Chair Sally Ride as one of its “35 Who Made A Difference” in the November 2005 special anniversary issue. In addition, to Dr. Ride’s extraordinary record as the nation’s first female astronaut and her stellar NASA career, her current work is aimed at assuring that girls get to share in the field of science.

As the founder of her company Sally Ride Science, Dr. (she has her doctorate in physics) Ride sees that girls are encouraged early on to pursue studies and careers in science. Quoted in Smithsonian Magazine, she marvels that when speaking with fourth-graders there are equal numbers of boys and girls who want to be astronauts. In meeting college students in physics classes, she notes that the number of girls drops dramatically.

To sustain the girls in their pursuit of scientific studies and careers, Sally Ride has created the Sally Ride Science Club, science festivals, summer camps, newsletters and career guides for girls. We congratulate our own Sally Ride on her newest mission and invite you to learn more about her work by clicking on www.sallyrideclub.com

The GREAT MUSEUMS Web site is featuring the NWHM CyberMuseum’s exhibitions on its current Virtual Museum Tours. Also featured museum Web sites include George Washington’s Mount Vernon and the Newseum’s Interactive Museum of News. GREAT MUSEUMS is the only nationwide TV series devoted to America’s museums and is broadcast nationwide on public television.

The Nation mourns the loss of three of its women civil rights pioneers and leaders during October 2005. Each of these women made significant contributions to furthering societal justice and civil rights during their lifetimes. Each of them arrived at their moment in history through courageous acts and the belief that one person can make a difference in changing the course of history. We pay tribute to the following leaders (listed in order of passing).

As a longtime civil rights activist, Dr. Tucker was the first African-American woman to serve as Pennsylvania’s Secretary of State from 1971 – 1977. Among the many achievements during her tenure, she made changes to the election system introducing voter registration by mail and instituting the first Commission on the Status of Women in Pennsylvania. Dr. Tucker also was responsible for the Governor’s appointment of more women judges and more women and African Americans to boards and commissions than ever before in the history of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. She also led the effort to make Pennsylvania one of the first states to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.

She founded the National Political Congress of Black Women in 1985 to assure that black women would have a share and parity in American politics. The organization is now known as the National Congress of Black Women and is a member of the NWHM National Coalition. Among the many issues Dr. Tucker and the group undertook w the campaign against violent and misogynistic lyrics in rap and hip-hop music. Dr. Tucker was founder and president of the Bethune-DuBois Institute, which she established in 1991 to promote the cultural development of African American youth through scholarships and education programs.

Her record of awards spans virtually all of the major civil rights organizations. She was the recipient of three honorary doctorates.

Vivian Malone Jones was the first African-American woman to enter the University of Alabama in 1963 along with fellow black student James Hood. Their entry resulted in then Governor George Wallace standing in the door of the university in an attempt to halt their admission. They entered the university but only after an agreement was reached between the White House and Wallace's aides. Ms. Jones further distinguished herself as the first African-American to graduate from the University of Alabama in 1965 with a degree in management. She moved to Washington, DC and joined the U.S. Department of Justice as a staff member of its Voter Education Project.

Following that assignment, she moved to Atlanta and took a position with the Environmental Protection Agency, where she was director of civil rights and urban affairs. She also helped pioneer the concept of environmental justice at the EPA regional office. She retired in 1996 remaining active in civil rights organizations. Her alma mater endowed a Vivian Malone Jones Scholarship Fund and in her honor hung her portrait in the building that houses the College of Commerce and Business Administration.

A simple act of defiance in 1955 ignited the modern civil rights movement that earned Mrs. Rosa Parks the title “mother of the civil rights movement.”

As a seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama and an active member of the local NAACP chapter, Mrs. Parks refused to give up her seat in the “assigned section” for blacks in the bus to a white man. This action led to her arrest that triggered a 381-day boycott of the bus system organized by a little-known Baptist minister, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. The modern civil rights movement had begun, finally culminating in the 1964 federal Civil Rights Act, which banned racial discrimination in public accommodations.

Speaking in 1992, Mrs. Parks stated that her reasons for refusing to vacate her seat were misunderstood when people said, “that my feet were hurting and I didn’t know why I refused to stand up when they told me. But the real reason of my not standing up was I felt that I had a right to be treated as any other passenger. We had endured that kind of treatment for too long.”

In 1957, Mrs. Parks and her husband moved to Detroit in search of employment and to escape the harassment and threats in Alabama. She worked for Congressman John Conyers until 1987 and then devoted much of her time to the Institute for Self-Development that she and her husband founded.

In 1996, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded to civilians making outstanding contributions to American life. In 1999, she was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor. On Sunday, October 30 and Monday, October 31, her body was laid in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, the first woman in history to be so honored by the required Act of Congress.

In celebration of the 85th anniversary of women’s right to vote in the United States, the Library of Congress has created a new online presentation of photographs entitled “Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman’s Party.” The online photographs became available on August 24, 2005 and can be accessed at: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/.

This presentation is a selection of 448 of the approximately 2,650 photographs in the Records of the National Woman’s Party, housed in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress.

“ ‘Women of Protest’ presents images of the party’s broad range of tactics as well as individual portraits of organization leaders and members. The photographs range from circa 1875 to 1938, but largely date from 1913 to1922. They document the party’s push for passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment as well as its later campaign for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment that has never been ratified.

The National Woman's Party was one of the most important national suffrage organizations in the United States as well as a leading advocate for women’s political, social and economic equality throughout much of the 20th century. An offshoot of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, the party was instrumental in achieving passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment, which extended suffrage to women nationally on Aug. 26, 1920.” (LOC press release)

The Sewall-Belmont House and National Woman’s Party are members of the NWHM National Coalition. The Sewall-Belmont House has been the historic headquarters of the National Woman’s Party since 1929. For more information, please see: http://www.sewallbelmont.org

The National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) has joined the NWHM National Coalition. The National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) is a consortium of state and local agencies, corporations, and national organizations that collaborate to create equitable and diverse classrooms and workplaces where they are no barriers to opportunities.

The National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity, Inc. was chartered in 1990 in response to the states’ need for support in carrying out the vocational equity duties prescribed in federal legislation. In 1993 NAPE became independent and began the process of incorporating and obtaining its nonprofit status. The organization now numbers 35 states as members and has a growing list of local affiliates. More information about NAPE is available on www.napequity.org.

The Susan B. Anthony House has formally joined the NWHM National Coalition. While leaders had served on the NWHM Advisory Board in the past, the Susan B. Anthony House has joined the Coalition in recognition of advancing the missions of both organizations.

“The Susan B. Anthony House shares the story of Susan B. Anthony’s lifelong struggle to gain voting rights for women and equal rights for all. We keep her vision and struggle alive by owning and protecting Anthony’s National Historic Landmark home; collecting artifacts and research materials directly related to her life and work; and making these resources available to the public through tours, publications, the Internet and interpretive programs.” (Source – Susan B. Anthony House).

In honor of the 85th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote, the Susan B. Anthony Park located near the House was the scene of a celebration on July 21. Acting Executive Director Patrice Sampson-Bouchard welcomed U.S. Congresswoman Louise Slaughter and County Executive Maggie Brooks, who both delivered remarks. Even Miss Susan B. Anthony made an appearance in a horse-drawn carriage and offered her observations on the need for women to gain the right to vote.

We welcome the Susan B. Anthony House as a new member of the NWHM National Coalition.

For more information see: www.susanbanthonyhouse.org or write to: Susan B. Anthony House, 17 Madison Street, Rochester, NY 14608 - (585) 235-6124

Sarah Winnemucca, Native American Activist, honored as Nevada places her statue in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol.

The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol is comprised of statues donated by individual states to honor persons notable in their history. The entire collection now consists of 98 statues contributed by 50 states. Nevada officially dedicated the statue of Sarah Winnemucca, Native American activist, as its second statue on March 9, 2005. New Mexico and North Dakota remain as the two states eligible to add a second statue.

The Nevada Women’s History Project initiated the project to designate Sarah Winnemucca as Nevada’s second statue. With the addition of Winnemucca to the U.S. Capitol Collection, there are now seven women so honored. The National Women’s History Museum spearheaded the moving of the Suffragist Statue from the Crypt to Statuary Hall. The three suffragists depicted in that sculpture are not counted in the “state total.”

Congratulations to the Nevada Women’s History Project on this remarkable achievement.

Click on www.nwhp.org to learn more about this exciting project. Remember that your search engine will probably need the whole title, Nevada Women’s History Project, to distinguish it from the National Women’s History Project. Click here for more.

The National Women’s History Museum (NWHM) announced in November 2003 that twenty-three national organizations have joined forces to support the mission of the Museum and work with its leaders to acquire a site for a permanent Museum near the National Mall in Washington, DC. The NWHM National Coalition members, comprised of leading women’s service and professional organizations, represent constituencies reaching over 8 million members.

NWHM National President Susan B. Jollie hailed the creation and support of the Coalition.

“Historically, women’s organizations have banded together to effect change and progress at all levels of American life. We are privileged to have these outstanding national organizations join with us in assuring that a permanent National Women’s History Museum in Washington DC is an accomplished fact. It is our collective obligation that the achievements and contributions of women to American history form a continuing legacy for future generations of men and women alike.”

The NWHM Honorary Board of Directors now includes ALL women members serving in the U.S. Congress. The NWHM Board extends its thanks to the bi-partisan House of Representatives Women's Caucus for helping bring the Board to its full female complement. Heeding Abigail Adams advice "not to forget the women," the NWHM has not forgotten the men. The Museum has been privileged to have strong support from a distinguished number of male U.S. Congress members since its founding in 1996. The Honorary Board now numbers over 160 members of Congress and is growing at a rapid pace.
If your Congressperson or Senator is not on the list, please ask them to join!

National Women's History Museum
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