Girlhood (It’s complicated) commemorates the anniversary of woman suffrage by exploring the concept of girlhood in the United States, but also how girls changed history in five areas: politics, education, work, health, and fashion. We argue that girlhood has an unexpected and complicated history a

A skateboarding pioneer, Cindy Whitehead turned pro at seventeen, skating both pool and half-pipe and becoming one of the top-ranked vert skaters while competing against the boys. But Whitehead had no choice but to wear boys’ shorts when competing; there were no skate products for girls in the 197

In this lesson plan, students will learn how Cindy Whitehead, a skateboarding pioneer, changed the culture of skateboarding and fought for girls to have greater access to all sports. Students will examine the question: Why does gender equality in sports matter?

Learn more women’s history with the Smithsonian: https://womenshistory.si.edu Drawing on the Smithsonian’s unique and vast resources, Because of Her Story creates, disseminates, and amplifies the historical record of the accomplishments of American women.

We will host a panel discussion connecting stories of teenagers in the past fighting to address systemic injustice to those of the present. The 2020 annual summit will be centered on the case study of Claudette Colvin—a 15-year-old Black student in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955. Colvin refused to g

“I’m a Stonewall skeptic. I don’t doubt that it happened, but I question how it has been used over the years. Because this is a big anniversary year, there is a compulsion to heroize the people who were there and elevate the event. Those sweaty summer nights of rebellion were certainly import

““You know how you can tell the difference between a masked cop and a vigilante?” “No.” “Me neither.” This exchange between Laurie Blake, former costumed vigilante turned FBI agent, and Angela Abar, masked Tulsa police detective, lays out a conundrum at the heart of HBO’s 20

“"It was now quick work," Maria Mitchell noted. "As the last rays of sunlight disappeared, the corona burst out all around the sun, so intensely bright near the sun that the eye could scarcely bear it." Maria Mitchell brought a team of Vassar graduates—"Vassar girls" as the press called

In this handheld, small booklet carried and distributed by Union soldiers, it contained the brief but powerful words of the Emancipation Proclamation. Some of those Union soldiers were African American, and they carried and read this message granting freedom to those enslaved. Have students think ab

Are the tactics used by suffragists to fight for political power still effective?  Suffrage and the passage of the 19th Amendment marked an important moment in the progression of women’s participation in our democracy and civic life. Yet it was an imperf