Adult Learners

woman focused on online webinar while learning at home

Discover learning opportunities through museum objects, short articles, videos, and podcasts. Become involved in women's history as a Smithsonian Digital Volunteer or Wikipedia editor. See our events calendar for in-person and online programs that illuminate the role of American women in history.

Great Reads

Get inspired with these highlighted stories that share women's history and Smithsonian scholarship. 

Coin depicting Wilma Mankiller, wearing a traditional shawl, and the seven-pointed star of the Cherokee Nation
Wilma Mankiller Led as the First Woman Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation
June 6, 2022
Dr. Patricia Cowings looks at the camera. Behind her a person is undergoing training.
Six Women Whose Innovations Changed Science and Engineering
April 7, 2022
Ethel Waters singing on a US Stamp. Text around her reads: 29, USA, Ethel Waters, Popular Singer, 1896-1977
As an African American, LGBTQ+ Woman, Ethel Waters Shaped U.S. Entertainment
June 12, 2020
Contents of evidence kit, including combs, envelopes for evidence, cotton tipped swabs and more
Four Curators Discuss Marty Goddard’s Sexual Assault Evidence Kit
April 29, 2022
Hung Liu standing between two large and colorful self-portraits behind her
Hung Liu’s Art Keeps History Close
March 7, 2022
Drawing of a woman in a black dress, with gold bands across her chest and a medallion at the center with the letters AT, stands holding an open book with a gold cover. There are two lit torches behind her and green swirls.
Women Innovators: Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future
March 28, 2022

Watch and Listen

Photo of Emma Tenayuca smiling on a green background with an illustration of strikers and the headline "Striking for Fair Wages, Emma Tenayuca."
Four Women Changemakers You May Not Know
March 22, 2021
Illustration of Lucy Hicks Anderson entertaining a party of people with jazz musicians playing behind
Chef, Socialite, and Groundbreaker Lucy Hicks Anderson
Images of women with the Latinas Talk Latinas, Pushing Boundaries banner in the middle
Latinas Talk Latinas
Hazel Fellows, an African American woman, sews a spacesuit
Five Popular Women’s History Stories from Sidedoor, a Smithsonian Podcast
May 19, 2022
Film poster for Passing featuring black and white photos of Tessa Thompson on a black background and Ruth Negga on a white background.
Passing: A Film Discussion with Director/Writer Rebecca Hall and Actresses Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga
Graphic with text: Storming the House Wilhelmina Dowsett. Photo of Dowsett surrounded by Hawaiian flowers. Illustration of Hawaiian women holding "votes for women" signs.
Eight Women's Voting History Stories You May Not Know
August 24, 2020

Objects that Tell Her Story

Explore these objects from Smithsonian American Women: Remarkable Objects of Strength, Ingenuity, and Vision from the National Collection and view more highlights from the collections.

A tintype occupational portrait of a woman, likely a doctor or possibly a nurse or midwife, carrying a medical bag. The woman is standing tall at the center of the image, looking directly at the camera. She carries a medical bag in her proper left hand.
Collection Item
Vital Midwives
Book cover that reads "Blind Reading"
Collection Item
Solving Mail Mysteries
Wedding dress with high collar, a jacket with long sleeves, and many ruffles.
Collection Item
Susette La Flesche's Wedding Dress
Papier-mache version of the Statue of Liberty. Liberty is Latina and carries a cornucopia of tomatoes instead of a tablet. Instead of a torch, she holds a tomato aloft in her hand.
Collection Item
Immokalee Statue of Liberty by Kat Rodriguez
Miss America Crown from 1951 - a tiara with many uncolored gemstones.
Collection Item
Yolande Betbeze's Miss America Crown

Get Involved

Black and white photograph of African American woman sitting at a long-arm sewing machine working on the iconic white outer layer of an Apollo spacesuit.
Book Club Questions

Dive deeper into the themes of our first digital exhibition, Becoming Visible: Bringing American Women’s History Into Focus, with this discussion guide for communities of lifelong learners.

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banner of diverse group of women of all ages
Share Your Story

What does women’s history mean to you? We invite you to share a story of a woman who has inspired you to think differently.

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objects against a blue background
Becoming Visible
Bringing American Women’s History into Focus

Women's stories have been in a constant state of becoming visible, never quite coming into focus in American history. Even though historians have long documented the lives and work of women, their contributions have vanished from most popular narratives of U.S. history. Explore how five women’s stories have been recorded and remembered, and join our effort to expand the story of America.

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