Celebrate Women’s History Month with the National Archives
Press Release · Monday, March 1, 2021

Washington, DC

The National Archives celebrates Women’s History Month with special programs on topics including women athletes, abolitionists, doctors, soldiers, suffragists, and explorers! See our extensive related Women’s History Month online resources.

BOOK TALK: The Doctors Blackwell: How Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine 
Friday March 5, at noon
In the mid-19th century, it was unheard of for a woman to study medicine, but in 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in America to receive an M.D. She was joined by her younger sister, Emily, and together, they founded the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children, the first hospital staffed entirely by women. In The Doctors Blackwell, Janice Nimura shares how these pioneering sisters exploded the limits of possibility for women in medicine. Register online. Watch the live stream on our YouTube Channel.

BOOK TALK: Girl Explorers: The Untold Story of the Globetrotting Women Who Trekked, Flew, and Fought Their Way Around the World 
Tuesday, March 9, at noon
In The Girl Explorers, author Jayne Zanglein tells the inspirational and untold story of the founding of the Society of Women Geographers―an organization of adventurous female world explorers―and how key members served as early advocates for human rights and paved the way for today’s women scientists. These women dared to go where no woman―or man―had gone before, achieving the unthinkable and breaking through barriers to allow future generations to carry on their important and inspiring work. Register online. Watch the live stream on our YouTube Channel.

PANEL DISCUSSION: Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight
Monday, March 15, at 7 p.m.
Author Julia Sweig will discuss Lady Bird Johnson’s complex and captivating role—as a political partner to her husband, an underappreciated presence in the White House, and a critical adviser/strategist. In this new biography, told in Lady Bird’s own words through her White House audio diaries, Sweig presents a modern and influential American First Lady. She will be joined in conversation by Claudia Anderson, former supervisory archivist at the LBJ Presidential Library, and Jeff Shesol, author of the forthcoming Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the New Battleground of the Cold War. Presented in Partnership with the LBJ Presidential Library. Register online. Watch the live stream on our YouTube Channel.

KIDS PROGRAM — Meet Alice Paul!
Thursday, March 18, at 11 a.m.
In this National Archives Comes Alive: Young Learner’s Program, kids will “meet” Alice Paul, as portrayed by Taylor Williams of the American Historical Theatre. Alice Paul, a supreme strategist, revitalized the women's suffrage movement in the early 20th century with her determination and resolve. A Q & A session with Alice Paul will follow the presentation. Register online; watch the live stream on our YouTube Channel.

KIDS PROGRAM: Virtual Pajama Party with Gymnast and Author Laurie Hernandez!
Saturday, March 20, at 8 p.m.
This fun educational program for kids 8–12 will focus on women in sports, the Olympics, and gymnastics. Our special guest is Olympic gymnastics gold medalist and Dancing with the Stars champion Laurie Hernandez, who will read from her book, I Got This: To Gold and Beyond, and take questions from program attendees. Participants will learn about related historical records in the National Archives, and create/share their own artwork and writing. Online pre-registration is required.

BOOK TALK: The Agitators: Three Friends Who Fought for Abolition and Women’s Rights 
Tuesday, March 30, at noon
From the perspective of three friends and neighbors in mid-19th-century Auburn, NY—the “agitators” of the title—Dorothy Wickenden tells the fascinating stories of abolition, the Underground Railroad, the early women’s rights movement, and the Civil War. Harriet Tubman, a “conductor” of the Underground Railroad, hid those she rescued in the basements of her friends, Martha Wright and Frances Seward. Martha Wright, a Quaker mother of seven, worked with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to advance women’s suffrage. Frances Seward—wife of Secretary of State Seward—helped support, feed, and educate those fleeing slavery, while lobbying her husband on the need for immediate abolition. Register online. Watch the live stream on our YouTube Channel.

PANEL: Overcoming Challenges: Women in the Military with Soledad O’Brien
Wednesday, March 31, at 7 p.m.
Broadcast journalist Soledad O’Brien will moderate a discussion on the evolution of women’s roles and responsibilities in the U.S. Armed Forces. Once forbidden to serve on the battlefield, women in the military gradually won victories: more responsibilities and access to all the service academies and basic training. In 2015, women were finally permitted to take part in leadership roles and physical combat, putting them on equal footing with their male counterparts. Joining O’Brien will be Heather A. Wilson, former Secretary of the Air Force; retired Brig. Gen. Kristin K. French (U.S. Army); and Lt. Madison Hovren (U.S. Army). Register online. Watch the live stream on our YouTube Channel.