Entertainment
Representation matters. What we see on the screen, on the stage, and in the recording studio shapes our understanding of the world and what is possible. The trailblazing female entertainers featured in the Smithsonian’s collection shattered stereotypes and gender norms to redefine who could be an entertainer in America. Many entertainers gained celebrity through entertainment and used that celebrity to actively change society.
Collection Objects
Learn the stories behind these featured objects or explore more entertaining women in the collections.
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for colored girls Playbill Art, 1977 -
Portraits of Della Reese -
Red Starfleet Uniform worn by Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura on Star Trek
Videos
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Star Trek's decision to cast Nichelle Nichols, an African American woman, as major character on the show was an almost unheard-of move in 1968. But for black women all over the country, it redefined the notions of what was possible.
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Hazel Dickens became an accomplished bluegrass performer at a time when the genre was dominated by men. She was also an admired advocate for women's and worker's rights. Along with fellow musician and friend Alice Gerrard, she empowered countless female singers and musicians to succeed without sacrificing integrity. In this performance, Dickens, herself the eighth of eleven children born to a West Virginia mining family, pays homage to her home state.
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Portrait in a Minute: Guest presenter Alina Collins Maldonado, Head of Education at the Gala Hispanic Theatre in Washington, D.C., discusses a 1993 photograph of Selena by Al Rendon.
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A curator of Latino History at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, discusses who Celia Cruz was and presents objects held in our collections.
Playlist
Smithsonian American Women
