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

Speaking before hundreds of thousands of people can be nerve-racking. But you'd never guess that watching Naomi Wadler. At age 11, she rose to national prominence as a leader in the 2018 March for Our Lives to end gun violence. She remembers becoming politically aware at age 5 when George Zimmerman

For elementary school students to practice thinking routines by carefully observing museum objects and artifacts. Each video has an accompanying lesson plan with activities for students to do in the class or home. Find them in the description section of each individual video. Each video is 5 minutes

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

Winning voting rights was a job so big that no woman could do it alone. The Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative explores stories of diverse communities and their early contributions to the fight for women’s suffrage. Learn more women’s history with the Smithsonian: https://womenshi

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.

Spark!Lab is a hands -on invention studio in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Spark!Lab activities communicate that invention is a process, rather than a single “Aha!” moment; provide visitors with opportunities to explore the invention process and their own inventiveness;