Women's Heritage Stories
It's time to celebrate fascinating American women—many of whom have not gotten the attention they deserve. Women such as Reverend Dr. Anna Pauline “Pauli” Murray, the brilliant legal mind who co-founded the National Organization of Women and became an Episcopal saint. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, the heiress who rebelled against her high-society upbringing to open a studio and encourage American artists. Jane Jacobs, the urban activist whose work presaged so many of our recent findings about the benefits of older buildings for cities. Madam C.J. Walker, a self-made millionaire who broke gender and racial barriers with her pioneering business models. Ann Pamela Cunningham, who brought Northern and Southern women together after the Civil War to save Mount Vernon, and who is effectively the American founder of the preservation movement. These are just a few of the remarkable women whose stories we at the National Trust strive to tell in recognition of women's role in American history. Explore their stories—and many more connected to women's history in the United States—through the stories and places below.
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Saving America's Historic Sites Space Through Time at Woodlawn and Pope-Leighey House -
Where Women Made History Ana Roqué: Dynamic Founding Figure of the University of Puerto Rico -
Where Women Made History Weaving a New Story: Cranbrook Centers Loja Saarinen -
Where Women Made History A Fresh Coat of Paint Brightens a Vital Piece of Women’s History in San Francisco -
Where Women Made History What’s in a Name? Becoming the Edith Farnsworth House -
Where Women Made History Four Women Who Built Illinois -
Where Women Made History Reclaiming a Space to Reclaim a Place: San Francisco’s Japanese YWCA -
Preservation Magazine Q&A: Naomi Harada on Her Family’s Civil Rights Legacy -
Preservation Magazine A Women-Led Effort to Restore Astoria, Oregon’s Odd Fellows Building -
Where Women Made History The Colorful Past and Bright Future of Azurest South, Home of a Pioneering Black Architect
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The National Trust's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund has awarded $3 million in grants to 33 places preserving Black history.
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