Massachusetts Women's History Center

Women's History, Everyone's Future

We amplify the history of the struggle for women’s rights to inspire greater civic participation to secure equity for all.

Massachusetts Women’s Hall of Fame coming soon!

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The Latest

A regiment of women in uniform (white or pale clothes and a dark sash) carrying staffs and marching in formation in a suffrage parade. Crowds look on from both sidewalks.

Exhibit

Savvy Strategists & Innovative Advocates: The Story of Massachusetts’ Suffragists

The innovative political strategies and determined organizing of Massachusetts' suffragists offer a window into the historic effort to enfranchise American women. Massachusetts was both the site of the first-ever national woman’s rights convention and the birthplace of the anti-suffrage movement. Commonwealth suffragists experienced triumphs and setbacks that mirrored the broader campaign taking place all across the country.

older woman wearing a coat stands on a box as a man holds a microphone up to her. Two other women stand with signs nearby.

Exhibit

From Roses to Raises: Women’s Fight for Just and Equal Pay in Massachusetts

Women in the Commonwealth have often led the way in the fight for just compensation and equal pay in the United States. From the 1830s Lowell mill girls "turn outs" to 140 years later with the 9to5 movement of organized office workers, learn how Massachusetts working women have advocated for their worth.

News

Suffrage100MA Launches the Massachusetts Women's History Center

Today Suffrage100MA launches MAWomensHistory.org, and becomes the (virtual at first) Massachusetts Women’s History Center (MWHC) with its flagship program, the Massachusetts Women’s Hall of Fame (MWHOF)!

I prefer not to argue about a woman’s rights, but to take them… I do not talk of woman’s rights, but of human rights, the rights of human beings. I do not come to ask [for] them, but to demand them; not to get down on my knees and beg for them, but to claim them.

Abby Kelley Foster, 1850 National Women's Rights Convention

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We need your help to develop and sustain the Massachusetts Women’s History Center and our flagship program, the Massachusetts Women’s Hall of Fame! Join us as a donor or visit our online shop to help us keep marching forward.