March is Women’s History Month and the Women’s Professional Network is thrilled to honor our New Jersey foremothers. See below for some great classes, exhibits, guides, and places to visit to celebrate.
Resources to Celebrate Women’s History Month at the New Jersey State Library
Votes For Women Research Guide: Come explore the history of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in New Jersey. The guide includes digitized newspaper articles, laws that impacted New Jersey women’s rights, and political cartoons.
Genealogy Research Stories: Women of New Jersey (52:03): Story-telling program about three New Jersey Women in colonial era New Jersey. Two women of color, one Native and one black, who brought lawsuits against white men in the 1760’s, and a daughter of a wealthy man who had an epic forbidden love story with a pirate!
Golden Beauty Boss: The Story of Madame Sarah Spencer Washington and the Apex Empire (50:26): In this program to celebrate Women's History Month, author Cheryl Woodruff-Brooks talks about the life of Madame Sara Spencer Washington, founder of Apex News and Hair Company. She speaks of how, in 1911, a Virginia entrepreneur moved to Atlantic City and started selling cosmetics door-to-door and styling hair in her basement, growing her business into an empire. She was honored at the New York World’s Trade Fair in 1939 as one of the “Most Distinguished Businesswomen.” Madame Washington acquired millionaire status in the 1940s, taking on roles as a civic leader, and philanthropist.
Local Women’s History Resources
Alice Paul Institute: Paulsdale, home of suffragist Alice Paul, is a museum and civic center dedicated to her legacy and the continuing push for Women’s Rights in the United States. Located in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, it’s about a 30 minute drive from Trenton.
New Jersey Women’s Heritage Trail: visit sites around New Jersey owned, influenced, or impacted by individual women or organized women’s groups. Women have powerfully impacted our state, and there are sites everywhere that reflect their legacy.
Museum of the American Revolution Virtual Exhibit: When Women Lost the Vote: A Revolutionary Story: Learn more about the extraordinary time in New Jersey when men of color and women could vote, 1776-1807. Explore in this multifaceted and in-depth virtual exhibit documents, videos, and images that will help you understand the social, cultural, and historical importance of these four short decades.
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