women in politics — Bunk History

Coretta Scott King sitting in front of a portrait of Martin Luther King Jr.

America Has Gotten Coretta Scott King Wrong

Her ghostwritten autobiography diminishes her, and I found out why.

by Jeanne Theoharis via The Atlantic on April 7, 2025

A large crowd of women marching in New York City for the Women's Strike for Equality in 1970.

When the Personal Was Political

Second-wave feminists meant business—but they had a lot of fun at it, too.

by Jill Filipovic via Democracy Journal on December 17, 2024

Frances Perkins

Frances Perkins, Modern Politics, and Historical Memory

The current political moment is reshaping the narrative about the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet.

by Rebecca Brenner Graham via Made By History on October 21, 2024

Pamela Harriman posing in an expensively decorated bedroom beside a four poster bed.

How a Mid-Century Paramour Became a Democratic Power Broker

Churchill weaponized her powers of seduction—but Pamela Harriman came into her own when she brought her glamour to Washington.

by Margaret Talbot via The New Yorker on September 16, 2024

President Ronald Reagan is applauded by Beverly LaHaye, President of Concerned Women for America, right, shortly before he addressed a group in Arlington, Va., Sept. 25, 1987.

The Woman Who Helped Build the Christian Right

How one activist helped turn evangelical women into the backbone of right-wing conservatism.

by Emily Suzanne Johnson via Made By History on June 3, 2024

Mabel E. Macomber

The Neighborhood Nuisance: One Woman’s Crusade to Shape Brooklyn

“It is true that my life has been threatened as the leader of this playground campaign,” wrote Mabel E. Macomber in 1929 from Brooklyn’s Bedford neighborhood.

by Alexandra Miller via The Metropole on September 5, 2023

Daisy Bates speaking at the March on Washington.

How Might the Civil Rights Movement Looked Different With Women at the Forefront?

Why women civil rights organizers marginalized at this event, and how that affects our collective memory of the struggle.

via Here & Now on August 23, 2023

Anna Rosenberg talking to Lyndon B. Johnson.

One of the Most Important Women in American History Has Been Forgotten

Anna Rosenberg had massive influence in American politics for 40 years. Remembering her story offers a guide for solving problems today.

by Christopher C. Gorham via Made By History on May 30, 2023

Patsy Min, the first woman of color and the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress.

My Mom Fought For Title IX, but It Almost Didn’t Happen

When the personal and professional lives of Hawai'i Congresswoman Patsy Mink collided.

via New York Times Op-Docs on June 23, 2022

Phyllis Schlafly and a group of supporters with signs and "Stop ERA" buttons.

The End of the Equal Rights Amendment

As the deadline to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment lapsed in June 1982, the amendment's foes celebrated, while its proponents looked to the future.

by Henry Kokkeler via Boundary Stones on April 20, 2022

Lady Bird Johnson looking through stack of papers at a desk

The Lost Story of Lady Bird

Why do most chroniclers of LBJ’s presidency miss the centrality and influence of the first lady?

by Julia E. Sweig via The Atlantic on March 15, 2021

Franklin D. Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act with Frances Perkins behind him.

The Woman Who Helped a President Change America During His First 100 Days

Frances Perkins was the first female Cabinet secretary in U.S. history, paving the way for the record number of women serving in President Biden’s Cabinet.

by Ronald G. Shafer via Washington Post on March 14, 2021

Marjorie Taylor Greene

Marjorie Taylor Greene Is Just the Latest Radical White Woman Poisoning Politics

Such women have long pushed American politics to the right, and their ideas have become mainstream.

by Elizabeth Gillespie McRae via Made By History on February 6, 2021

A Record Number of Women Are Serving in the 117th Congress

Since Jeannette Rankin was elected in 1916, 352 women have served in the House and 46 in the Senate. About two-thirds entered Congress during or after the 1990s.

by Drew DeSilver, Carrie Blazina via Pew Research Center on January 15, 2021

Bella Abzug with a group of women with strike signs.

'In a Perfectly Just Republic,' Bella Abzug – Born a Century Ago – Would Have Been President

Before presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, before Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, there was Congresswoman and firebrand Bella Abzug.

by Pamela S. Nadell via The Conversation on July 21, 2020

Black and white photo portrait of a woman wearing un-rimmed glasses and a short brimmed hat with a satin bow on it.

Suffrage in Spanish

Hispanic women and the fight for the 19th Amendment in New Mexico.

by Cathleen D. Cahill via Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission on June 15, 2020

Victoria Woodhull speaks as the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives receives a group of female suffragists, January 11, 1871

The Scandalous and Pioneering Victoria Woodhull

The first woman to run for president was infamous in her day.

by John Strausbaugh via National Review on February 8, 2020

Putting Women Back Where They Belong: In Federalism and the U.S. History Survey

Looking to the local level showcases how women claimed their rights in Early America.

by Laura F. Edwards via Muster on December 27, 2019

On Robert Caro, Great Men, and the Problem of Powerful Women in Biography

Power and ambition in women are often hidden, buried, disguised, crushed, mocked, diminished, punished, or excoriated.

by Caroline Fraser via Literary Hub on May 16, 2019

Chart of Democratic and Republican women in Congress from 1959 to 2019.

We Mapped Out the Road to Gender Parity in the House of Representatives

Exploring the last 100 years of women in politics through data.

by Durand D'souza via The Pudding on July 10, 2018

This Map Shows When Each State Elected a Woman to Congress

Women could make history this year — but there's still a long way to go before there's equal representation.

by David Johnson via TIME on June 25, 2018

Female Trouble

Clinton's memoir addresses the gendered discourse and larger feminist contexts of the 2016 presidential campaign.

by Annette Gordon-Reed via New York Review of Books on January 22, 2018

Anita Hill and Her 1991 Congressional Defenders to Joe Biden: You Were Part of the Problem

Hill revisits the infamous Clarence Thomas hearings with five of the congressional women who supported her.

by Annys Shin, Libby Casey via Washington Post on November 22, 2017

Cartoon portraits of women who were mayors in 1922.

In the 1920s, the Now-Forgotten Flood of 'Girl Mayors' Became the Face of Feminism

Profiles of a few of the municipal leaders elected in the wake of the 19th Amendment.

by Brianna Nofil via Atlas Obscura on July 6, 2016

Emma Goldman.

Emma Goldman’s “Anarchism Without Adjectives”

The writings of Emma Goldman entered the public domain. Here is an introduction to Goldman's life and her particular brand of anarchism.

by Kathy Ferguson via The Public Domain Review on January 12, 2011

Shirley Chisolm

Shirley Chisholm Was a Trailblazer for Change

Explore the groundbreaking career of the first Black woman to seek the U.S. presidency.

via Retro Report on November 21, 2024

A drawing of Kamala Harris in a police uniform.

Lipstick on the Pigs

Kamala Harris and the lineage of the female cop.

by Sophie Lewis via The Drift on October 28, 2024

Taylor Swift's Instagram post endorsing Kamala Harris. Swift is holding a cat and facing the camera, dressed in black.

Taylor Swift and the History of the Celebrity Endorsement

Do pop culture interventions in presidential elections make a difference?

by Addie Mahmassani via New Lines on October 23, 2024

Kamala Harris waving at the Democratic National Convention.

Kamala Harris Is Borrowing From the Feminist Playbook

Harris is taking a page from the playbook that has long helped women advance the quest for equality.

by Melissa Blair via Made By History on September 26, 2024

A drawing of a naked woman standing in front of a crowd of Anabaptists and Quakers.

The Naked Quakers

Today, the international feminist group FEMEN uses nudity as part of its protests. But appearing naked in public was also a tactic used by early dissenters.

by Katrina Gulliver, Jean-Pierre Cavaillé via JSTOR Daily on September 9, 2024

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