All Work and No Pay: A History of Women's Invisible Labor

March 4, 2019 – May 30, 2022
National Museum of American History
1300 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, DC
1st Floor, Center, History Highlights Cases

Explore the history of women’s work in the home and the value and implications of unwaged labor. Despite making steps forward in the paid labor force, there is an implied and historical expectation that women will take care of the housework and unpaid work at home. Costumes meant for domestic work from colonial America to the 1990s and objects from various ethnic communities and classes highlight how women shared similar tasks across race and class despite the complicated dynamics and inequalities between them.