Progress on Because of Her Story Initiative
by Kiren Jahangeer, Guest Blogger

The Smithsonian’s American Women’s History Initiative, Because of Her Story, launched in 2018 to amplify women’s voices to honor the past, inform the present and inspire the future. This initiative is one of the country’s most ambitious undertakings to research, collect, document, display and share the compelling story of women. The Smithsonian is working closely with members of the former American Museum of Women's History Congressional Commission, which submitted a report to Congress in 2016 to address whether a museum dedicated to women’s history in America is needed. The report concluded that the Smithsonian is the natural place to honor women’s contributions to the nation.

In the last 18 months, a great deal of progress has been made, with many more projects on the horizon. Some highlights include:

• A signature exhibition, Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence, opened at the National Portrait Gallery.
  
  
• Nine new curators have been hired to focus on women’s history, including 3 this spring – a Curator of Women’s Environmental History at the Anacostia Community Museum, a Curator of Women’s History at NMAAHC, and a Web and Social Media Curator of American Women’s History at NMAH. These curators will be utilizing historic artifacts from the Smithsonian’s vast collection to share American women’s stories through new exhibitions, research, and educational programming
  
  
• On June 4, the social media campaign commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment’s passage was a big hit, with more than 780,000 impressions and nearly 20,000 engagements across SI’s three main social media platforms.
  
  
• On October 8, 2019, NASM will host an Ada Lovelace Day edit-a-thon (for Wikipedia) to celebrate women’s contributions to math, science, and aerospace. The intent of this edit-a-thon is to increase the representation of women on this open-source platform. An “All Work, No Pay” edit-a-thon took place at NMAH on July 12.
  
  
• Also in October, a new book will be released – Smithsonian American Women: Remarkable Objects and Stories of Strength, Ingenuity, and Vision from the National Collection.
  
  
• On December 17–18, the first symposium in a five-year series, Working Women: The Smithsonian Institution as a Case Study, will take place at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery.
  
  
• In June 2020, a major AWHI exhibition, Girlhood (It’s Complicated), will open at NMAH.

On August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, finally granting women the right to vote. As we approach the 100th anniversary of that seminal moment in our democracy, it is exciting to see so many SI units participate in the American Women's History Initiative. If you are interested in helping with this initiative or have ideas about programming, please contact SchneiderJenn@si.edu.