New York's 1912 Suffrage March demonstrated the large number of women willing to speak out for voting rights. At the head of the parade, a young Chinese woman, Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, rode horseback on the front lines and made a bold statement.
Activism
Voting rights. Civil Rights. Reproductive rights. A living wage. Equal access to education. Progress on these and every other major social issue of our time has its roots in the activism and advocacy of everyday people in the past. Did you know it took 100 years for the 19th Amendment to be ratified into the Constitution? One hundred years of American women organizing, campaigning, marching, writing, speaking, protesting, and being jailed.
Collection Objects
Discover the stories behind these objects or explore more collections related to activism and advocacy.
Conversation Kit
Let's Talk! Queen Liliʻuokalani Conversation Kit
Queen Lili'uokalani Teaching and Discussion Guide
Grades 6–12. Time: Variable (1–3 class periods). Aligned to CCSS and C3 standards.
In this lesson plan, students will learn how the legacy of Queen Lili'uokalani, the Hawaiian Kingdom's only reigning queen and last monarch, continues to inspire activism efforts and social movements today.
Videos
In 1970, activist Angela Davis was charged with murder. A movement arose to free her, and her time in jail inspired her to work to change the prison system. Kemi, a student, talks with Kelly Elaine Navies, oral historian at our National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Lady Bird Johnson was a committed supporter of the Civil Rights Movement: from touring the country to speak against racism to refusing to stay in segregated hotels.
Mary Elliot, curator of American slavery at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, shares what Sojourner Truth means to her. Often overlooked, Sojourner Truth was enslaved for 35 years and went on to become a women's rights activist and abolitionist.
Taína Caragol, curator of Latino art and history at the National Portrait Gallery discusses Dolores Huerta, co-founder, with Cesar Chavez, of the United Farm Workers (UFW). Huerta was instrumental in achieving major legal protections and a better standard of living for farm workers.
National Museum of American History curator Lisa Kathleen Graddy explores how suffragists used merchandise to spread their cause and discover identity.
Mothers and caregivers, led by activist Ruby Duncan, blocked a quarter-mile section of the Las Vegas Strip to fight against unjust cuts to welfare benefits.
Playlist
Women's Liberation
Smithsonian Folkways RecordingsSongs of activism and protest compiled by Meredith Holmgren, Curator of American Women's Music.
Smithsonian American Women
Remarkable objects and stories of strength, ingenuity, and vision from the National Collection.
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