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Home > Features > Women's History Web Guide
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Women's History Web Guide
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by Erica Rex
Journalist and Writer
New York and California
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| | Including Women in History
Until the 1970s, information about the contributions of women to the arts and sciences was almost impossible to find in the curricula of U.S. public schools. During the past 25 years, as increasing numbers of women began to hold public office and play major roles in business, science, the arts, politics, literature, technology, and medicine, women's participation in the course of history and civilization could no longer be overlooked. With the creation of Women's History Month by an Act of Congress in 1987, it became necessary for educators to begin to include women's stories on a more regular basis.
For educators, teaching women's history presents a unique challenge. Focusing on teaching women's history as an independent unit would afford teachers the opportunity to fill some of the gaps left by the relative absence of women in the existing curriculum; at the same time, teaching women's history as a separate unit may perpetuate the habit of marginalizing women's contributions in all fields of endeavor.
One approach might be to teach the history and contributions of women in the same spirit as the concept of "writing across the curriculum." A physics class presenting the works of Sir Isaac Newton could also include the equally important but much neglected works of Hildegard von Bingen -- a medieval German abbess, philosopher, and mystic whose theories on universal gravitation were precise and prescient: her work predated Newton's theories by several centuries. An art history class discussing the works of Auguste Rodin could include study of the work of Camille Claudel -- Rodin's student and assistant, a sculptor in her own right, whose work was co-opted by her prominent mentor.
Using the Web As a Tool for Teaching Women's History
In the past, teachers may have felt hard-pressed to find materials to augment standard curricula so that lessons included marginalized populations. Widespread access to the Internet in most schools has ameliorated this problem by providing teachers and students with access to a variety of resources from which they may begin an interdisciplinary study of women's history.
This guide provides an overview of several well-constructed and informative Web sites that present the lives and works of important women in many disciplines and detail their contributions to the history of human endeavor.
The National Women's History Project
The National Women's History Project Web site, the official site of the organization that sponsors Women's History Month, is a good place to begin a study of influential women. Among its other offerings, the site provides brief biographies of annual honorees, including the 2003 honoree Mae Jemison, the first black woman astronaut. The site has a Teacher's Lounge with suggested activities for incorporating women's stories into the curriculum. There are many useful links to other sites, including Scholastic's Women Who Changed History Web site, which encourages students to submit essays for publication on the site.
 The National Women's History Project
Women Who Changed History
4,000 Years of Women in Science
Two women scientists developed this Web site as a repository for the stories of countless women whose contributions to science and technology have for the most part gone uncredited. Visitors can choose to view biographies either in chronological order or in alphabetical order. The site includes entries on such nineteenth-century luminaries as Lady Augusta Ada Byron, the Countess of Lovelace, who wrote the code to run the first mechanical computer and for whom the programming language "Ada" was named. Unfortunately, the site's creators have not had time to maintain the site with the diligence it deserves, and some of the links to other sites do not work. Despite its faults, this site gives teachers and students a wonderful resource from which they can begin to conduct their own research about women who have made important contributions to science.
4,000 Years of Women in Science
Female Nobel Prize Laureates
The Nobel Prize Internet Archive devotes a Web page entirely to the women who have won Nobel Prizes, beginning with Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in physics. The site provides useful links to books, related Web sites, and other resources for information on these women and other noteworthy women in all fields of study.
Female Nobel Prize Laureates
National Museum of Women in the Arts
This site is the virtual location of the Washington, D.C., museum whose charter is to collect and display works of women artists. The site contains a wealth of historical and biographical information about notable women artists, as well as useful links to other sites about women artists, their work, and their lives.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Places Where Women Made History
Sponsored by the National Park Service, this site provides itineraries, descriptions, and maps to sites in New York and Massachusetts associated with varied aspects of women's history. All of the locations belong to the National Register of Historic Places and include properties associated with women who made outstanding achievements in fields such as education, literature, science, business, industrial design, civil rights, sculpture, painting, philanthropy, medicine, religion, and architecture. While aesthetically pleasing (and rewarding in that it encourages students and teachers to take their studies of important women out of the classroom and into the real world), the site fails to provide links to other sites or bibliographies where users can find more information about the important women mentioned.
Places Where Women Made History
Women in World History Curriculum
An eclectic repository of links organized by historical period, this site has information on just about every possible subject and area of interest pertaining to women. It contains a noteworthy page of links to information on teaching about women in Asia.
Women in World History Curriculum
Distinguished Women of Past and Present
This site is dedicated to the work and biographies of distinguished women from ancient through modern times. Visitors can search by subject area or by name (subject areas range from activism and social service to paleontology and veterinary medicine). The site contains lists of recommended books within every subject area, as well as useful links for more information.
Distinguished Women of Past and Present
Erica Rex is a professional journalist and writer. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including Salon.com, The North American Review, Upside, and Forest Magazine. She has taught in rural public high schools in California and Oregon, and at the community college and university levels.
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