The month of March is a perfect time to visit the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History because it is full of stories of women’s leadership, courage, and activism. Visiting this museum during Women’s History Month provides your family and friends with a chance to learn about and honor the women who have shaped our country for the better.
Every floor of the National Museum of American History includes examples of women leading, advancing, and being change makers in their communities, in sports, in the theater, in their businesses, in medicine, and in education. There are wonderful exhibits sharing women’s stories through the fight for the right to vote; through the struggles for civil rights; through the movement for wage equality; through the fight for full recognition of female athletes; through the innovations of technology and American enterprise; and through the expansion of the arts to tell full stories of women’s lives.
Museum Aficionados Top 4 Exhibits of Women’s History Making
- All Work, No Pay – This exhibit shows how women have always worked and examines the value and implications of unwaged labor in the home.
- Many Voices, One Nation – This exhibit celebrates cultural diversity and shows examples of how people who immigrated and lived in the United States found ways to negotiate, or work out, what it meant to be American. There are wonderful examples of women and men advocating for social change.
- American Enterprise – This exhibit immerses visitors in the dramatic arc of labor, power, wealth, success, and failure in American business and innovation from the mid-1700s to the present. There are many examples of women leading innovative businesses and technological advancements.
- Sounding American Music – This exhibit shows musicians representing diverse genres who have innovated, invented, and inspired as they contributed to America’s songbook.
My son and I were inspired by our visit and loved all the opportunities we had to celebrate women who have sacrificed to make things better for themselves, their communities, and our country. Hearing their stories of accomplishment, sacrifice, and activism provided a chance for me to talk with my son about being an ally and the important role that men and boys have in championing equal rights for women and girls.
After our visit to the National Museum of American History, we talked about the courage of our mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, and cousins. Sharing the stories of women in our own family created an opportunity for me to share my own story of helping women, men, and children seeking safety from abuse. Overall, we had a wonderful visit that grounded us in past and present examples of bravery.
You and your loved ones should definitely check out the National Museum of American History this month! We promise that you’ll be inspired to tell stories of your own and to reach out to the women in your families to learn their stories too!
Let’s stay connected, you can follow the National Museum American History @amhistorymuseum If you check out the, please let us know what you think! We’ll post more photos of our adventures on Instagram, @museumaficionados. We hope you have a good time and create great memories!
Museum Aficionados 