Women's History Month 2026

March is Women's History Month The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in commemorating and encouraging the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history.

A red haired woman wearing a long, green and yellow dress with a large sunflower pinned to the breast sits in a green wooden chair with a small child seated on her lap. The child looks at her reflection in the woman’s hand mirror, while both subjects are reflected in a nearby wall mirror.

Mary Cassatt: An American in Paris

An intimate exhibition brings together rarely-seen treasures and iconic works by Mary Cassatt, marking 100 years since her death. Some 40 paintings, drawings, and prints—largely drawn from the National Gallery of Art's rich holdings of her work—show an artist shaped by tradition yet radically modern.

Image credit: Mary Cassatt, Woman with a Sunflower, c. 1905, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.98,

Black and white photograph of the people walking past the entrance to The First Women's Bank, 1975

We Do Declare: Women’s Voices on Independence

In commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we're exploring how generations of diverse women have experienced a key concept in American history: independence. Through a multi-faceted oral history project focused on the last 50 years, We Do Declare: Women’s Voices on Independence will explore when, how, and why women have sought to increase their economic independence.

Image credit: Smithsonian American Women's History Museum

Black and white image of Mary McLeod Bethune standing beneath a tree wearing a pale, lace dress and a tall black hat with feathers on the left side.

Forces for Change: Mary McLeod Bethune and Black Women’s Activism

Forces for Change: Mary McLeod Bethune and Black Women's Activism explores renowned educator and reformer Mary McLeod Bethune (1875–1955) and other Black women social change agents, past and present.

Image credit: Mary McLeod Bethune, Daytona Beach, ca. 1904. Image Credit: Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Courtesy of State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory.

Silhouette of a woman with shoulder length hair wearing a park ranger hat.

National Park Service Celebrates Women's History Month

Explore women's history in national parks and in places in communities across the country to discover women of all cultures providing healing and hope. Learn how women continue to lead in these roles in stewardship and conservation of America's natural and cultural treasures today.

Image credit: Image designed by the National Park Service

Mary Weiss Hester holding a clipboard caring for a patient onboard a plane.

The Women of Five Wars

The limited but important roles women played in Korea and Vietnam paved the path to more expanded -- and in some cases more dangerous -- specialties in recent wars.

Image credit: Fort Wayne News Sentinel image of Mary Weiss Hester of the 801st Medical Air Evacuation Squadron caring for a wounded patient onboard a C-47 Skytrain. January 1953. (Library of Congress)

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