National Women’s History Museum | The Power of Story
Yesterday — December 5, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. EST — I attended a celebration of the Phi Beta Kappa Society’s 247th anniversary, which was held in the form of the presentation The Power of Story: Perspectives from the National Women’s History Museum. I have been a member of Phi Beta Kappa (ΦBK) since 2018. The organization was founded in 1776, the same year the the United States declared independence from Great Britain, and describes itself as “America’s most prestigious academic honor society”. The National Women’s History Museum (NWHM) was founded in 1996 as a nonprofit, online organization “dedicated to uncovering, interpreting, and celebrating women’s diverse contributions to society”. I had first heard about this organization during Day 1 of the Historic New England Summit back in early November. This collaboration between ΦBK and NWHM was a first for the organizations.
Solai Sanchez, Associate Director of Chapter and Association Relations and Membership Engagement at ΦBK, introduced the session and moderated questions during the Q&A, while Pam Malestar, president of ΦBK Alumni Association of Greater Baltimore, gave a second introduction. Next, Dr. Dolores Duran-Cerda, Interim Chancellor at Pima Community College in Tucson, AZ and the first Latina to hold the position, gave a brief talk about her background and academic work. She noted that key moments in the history of the United States go unnoticed but are often preserved in storytelling and music. Her grandfather was a guitarist who sang Mexican ballads or corridos about the oppression of working class people, which inspired her doctoral thesis in Latin American literature, specifically the poetry of Chilean Jewish author Marjorie Agosín. Dr. Duran-Cerda then led the discussion about NWHM by offering a series of thoughtful questions.
The two subject matter experts about the museum were its president & CEO Frédérique Irwin and associate educator Dr. Emma Rothberg. After briefly describing her background as a polyglot and business person, Irwin detailed the history of the museum. The organization has existed online around twenty-seven years and is currently advising the Smithsonian on the creation of an upcoming, federally funded, brick-and-mortar women’s history museum, which will be built in Washington, D.C. The two groups will be intentionally kept separate, as the virtual space will continue to focus on “decentralized national strategy”, while the new museum will be a “centralized, physical, object-based place”. Dr. Rothberg reminded the importance of looking at history from multiple perspectives and including all people in the narrative. Currently, only 15% of historical figures appearing in textbooks are women, and about half appear as the wife to another figure.
Dr. Rothberg described a recently created exhibit, “We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist D.C.”, which covers the story of many women who shaped the political environment in the nation’s capital. The exhibit is hosted in ArcGIS, a platform designed for embedded maps, allowing visitors to virtually tour the streets of Washington. An in-person companion exhibit is currently on display at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library through Fall 2024. Irwin explained the two-fold experiment in creating these hybrid exhibits. First, NWHM aims to put small exhibits in cities across the United States that uplift the stories of women from those cities. Second, the exhibits must be highly accessible, allowing visitors to view them without barriers.
Just before beginning the Q&A, Irwin reminded the audience that at NWHM, “Our legacy is not in the objects we display, but the courage we will spark and the action we will encourage.” The museum focuses on long-term goals through multiyear plans. Like all nonprofit organizations, the museum is looking for people to be involved by becoming volunteers and showing support.
During the Q&A, Irwin and Dr. Rothberg talked about the importance of history education and the role of the NWHM in preserving and sharing women’s history. NWHM currently has over 250 biographies on individual women, over 30 online exhibits, and many virtual programs to view on YouTube. Irwin reiterated that NWHM and the Smithsonian museum would be two separate entities with different purposes. She emphasized the importance of doing the work at NWHM now, since creating a physical museum takes a long time and may never come to fruition. As for having two national museums dedicated to women, Irwin reminded the audience that “There are two museums in this country for mustard. I’m pretty sure we can handle two museums for women’s history and accomplishments.” Dr. Rothberg encouraged people interested in entering the museum field to be a lifelong learner and figure out what they are passionate about, as some organization is dedicated to almost any interest.