Women's History Archives

June 10, 2018: Ancestral Land Returned to Ponca Tribe

Along the “Trail of Tears” in Neligh, Nebraska, a farmer signed a deed to return ancestral land to the Ponca Tribe.

Oct. 15, 1968: Wyomia Tyus Sets Olympic Records

At the XIX Olympic Games in Mexico City in 1968, Wyomia Tyus became the first person to win gold medals in the 100-meter sprint in two consecutive Olympics. She was also participating in Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) protest.

The Mirabal Sisters from left, Minerva, Maria Teresa and Patria.

Nov. 25, 1960: Mirabal Sisters Murdered in Dominican Republic

The murder of the Mirabal sisters — who clandestinely opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic and were then brutally killed — has become an international symbol of resistance to violence against women.

Mary McLeod Bethune, pictured in the 1920s, when her school became a co-ed institution and she became the president of the National Association of Colored Women.

Fall, 1922: Mary McLeod Bethune Confronts Klan to Defend Black Voting Rights

Mary McLeod Bethune faced off against the Ku Klux Klan in defense of Black voting rights in Daytona, Florida.

Organizing Against Racial and Sexual Violence: Rosa Parks’ Life-Long Pursuit of Justice

Teaching Activity. By Say Burgin, Jeanne Theoharis, and Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. 7 pages.
In this activity, students investigate Rosa Parks’ activism — and the gender and racial injustice to which it was a response — before and after her famous bus refusal.

Eunice Foote, a pioneering scientist and women’s rights activist. Art by Catherine Kwon.

Aug. 23, 1856: Women’s Rights Activist Eunice Newton Foote Confirms “Greenhouse Effect”

U.S. scientist and women’s rights activist Eunice Newton Foote confirmed Fourier’s theory that atmospheric gases like carbon dioxide trap heat in the atmosphere, a phenomenon that would come to be known as the “greenhouse effect.”

Photo of environmental activist Jessica Reznicek

June 29, 2021: Environmental Activist Charged with “Domestic Terrorism”

Environmental activist and member of the Catholic Worker movement, Jessica Reznicek, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for “domestic terrorism” for acts of civil disobedience and property damage intended to stop the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Susie King Taylor: Nurse, Teacher & Freedom Fighter

Book — Non-fiction. By Erica Armstrong Dunbar, with Candace Buford. 2023. 288 pages.
A biography of Susie King Taylor, a nurse, teacher, and freedom fighter.

Pauli Murray: The Life of a Pioneering Feminist and Civil Rights Activist

Book — Non-fiction. By Terry Catasús Jennings and Rosita Stevens-Holsey, illustrated by Ashanti Fortson. 2022. 288 pages.
A biography of Pauli Murray, a queer civil rights and women’s rights activist who fought in the trenches for many of the rights we now take for granted.

La historia del pueblo de Estados Unidos para jóvenes

Book — Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff with additions by Ed Morales. Translated by Hugo García Manríquez. 2023. 608 pages.
A Spanish translation of the young adult version of the best-selling A People’s History of the United States.