“When he reflected later in life on why, as a young man, he chose to enlist during wartime, Carlos Martinez said that avoiding service was never an option, not for his community and not for himself. In the mid-1960s, the United States had begun fighting the Soviet-supported North Vietnamese as par

The inaugural address, delivered by the president of the United States after they take the oath of office, is one of the most anticipated events each election cycle. The newly elected president is not required to deliver an inaugural address, but following the example of George Washington, it has be

A box of soap baby that was sold as a campaign tool for Former President William McKinley during the 1896 United States presidential election. An identical box of soap baby was created for the opposing Democrat candidate, William Jennings Bryan. These were produced by the soap manufacturer and not t

Leotard worn by gymnast Dominique Dawes (b. 1976) at the 1996 Summer Olympic games, held in Atlanta, Georgia. At the games she won gold as part of the first place U.S. team. The Maryland native also took home an individual bronze for her performance in the floor exercise, becoming the first African

Menarche, or the onset of menstruation, generated much advice and many attempts to manage girls' bodies in a public way. A box of tampons featuring "no belts, no pins, no pads" from Tampax, geared for young menstruating females. This object is featured in Girlhood (It's complicated).

This Santa Cruz helmet was worn by downhill skateboarder Judi Oyama while racing during the late 1970's and into the 1980s. Oyama began skating as a teen and was sponsored by Santa Cruz Skateboards in the mid-seventies. She skated both vert and street but her passion was slalom and downhill racing w

A New Havel Motor brand pocket watch with black faceplate and radium painted numbers and clock hands. The watch case is made of plated metal and has a ridged winding mechanism at the top. "New Haven Motor" and "Radium" are printed in white lettering on the watch face.In the 1910s–1920s, radium was

Amber Melton made this robot at CompSciConnect, a University of Maryland camp. When few girls signed up for the university’s computer science classes, Dr. Jan Plane realized that something in the high schools wasn’t working. So she created a camp for middle schoolers to excite them about compute

Despite disruption resulting from the suspension from Central High School and the later closure of all of Little Rock’s public schools to avoid integration, Minnijean Brown graduated on schedule in 1959 from New Lincoln School in New York City. New Lincoln School was a private, integrated school f

Some girls made history by simply going to school and claiming their right to belong. Minnijean Brown is one of those girls. In 1957, she and eight classmates integrated the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, during the civil rights movement. White students physically and verbal