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Women Who Made History

A Guide to Women’s History Sites in Washington, D.C.

Prepared by The President’s Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History

Historic Sites: Welcome to Washington, Sewall-Belmont House National D.C. During your stay in our Historic Site: Suffragist and activist Alice nation’s capital, we invite 5 Paul moved into the historic Sewall- Belmont House in 1929 and turned the you to explore the exhibits house into the headquarters for the National Woman’s Party. A large collection of and sites that pay tribute to portraits and memorabilia of the women who led the fight for , including the desk Susan B. the women who shaped Anthony used to draft the 19th Amendment, is displayed throughout the house, as are flags used America’s history. by suffragists who picketed the . Historians have just begun Location: 144 , NE Metro: Orange or Blue Line to Capitol South; to focus on the stories of the Red Line to Union Station heroic women who worked to Phone: 202-546-3989 Hours:Tues-Fri., 10am-3pm; Sat., 12-4pm build a better tomorrow for Amenities: Docent-led tours, gift shop www.nationalparks.org/guide/parks/ all . As women’s sewall-belmo-1727.htm stories continue to emerge, Mary McLeod Bethune Council the grand monuments, House National Historic Site: Mary McLeod Bethune was a renowned exhibits and historic sites of 8 educator who founded Bethune- Cookman College, was vice president of this proud city will grow to the NAACP and was the founder of the National Council of Negro Women. As the first reflect a more inclusive and national headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women, the Bethune residence was a flurry of complete portrait of our activity from 1943-1955. Today, the house holds both the Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial Museum and national heritage. Please the National Archives for Black Women’s History. note that exhibits are subject Location: 1318 Vermont Avenue, NE Metro: Orange or Blue Line to Farragut to change. Visitors should North or McPherson Square check for current status Phone: 202-673-2402 Hours: Mon-Sat., 10am-4pm before beginning any tours. Amenities: Children’s programs, films,tours and lectures. www.stamponhistory.com/people/bethune.html Memorials:

Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial: Women in Military Service for This sculpture offers its own tribute to America Memorial: Since the Bethune’s work as a national leader , women have 9 and advocate for African-Americans. gallantly served in our nation’s 13 armed forces. The first national Location: Lincoln Park, 13th and East memorial honoring women’s service in Capitol Streets, NW;Washington, D.C. all military branches throughout our history is prominently located at the ceremonial entrance to Arlington National Cemetery. An interactive ’s Missing Soldiers computerized register of servicewomen allows Office: Clara Barton was known as visitors to access information about women who the “Angel of the Battlefield” for her served. efforts to organize the donation and 6 distribution of supplies to the Location: Ceremonial entrance to Arlington frontlines of Civil War battlefields. National Cemetery After the war, Barton continued her efforts by Metro: Blue Line to Arlington National assisting families searching for missing soldiers, Cemetery founding the American Red Cross and working for the rights of women and African-Americans. Phone: 703-533-1155 Viewable only from the street until its scheduled Hours: 8am-5pm, daily opening in 2003, Clara Barton’s Missing Soldiers Amenities: Gift shop Office offers rare insight into the assistance www.womensmemorial.org Barton provided to countless families searching for lost soldiers. The papers and artifacts discovered at this sight are a tribute to Barton’s Vietnam Women’s Memorial: Near lifetime commitment to others. An enlarged the Vietnam Veterans Memorial replica of the original sign for the office is stands a moving and dynamic statue expected to be unveiled and viewable from the which captures the image of three 1 street beginning in the spring of 2000. nurses in wartime. It serves as a vivid reminder of the contributions women Location: 437-441 7th Street, NW made while serving in Vietnam. Altogether, Metro: Red or Yellow Line to Gallery Place 265,000 women served during the Vietnam War, with 11,000 women serving in Vietnam.

Location: Across from Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Constitution Gardens, 23rd Street and Constitution Avenue Metro: Orange or Blue Line to -GWU

Phone: 202-634-1568 Hours: 24 hours a day, daily Amenities: Gift shop www.glennagoodacre.com 10 8

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1Across from Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 5 144 Constitution Avenue, NE 10 1734 N Street, NW Constitution Gardens, 23rd St. and Constitution Avenue 6 437 - 441 7th Street, NW 11 The FDR Memorial, alongside in 2 14th Street and 7 1250 New York Avenue, NW Constitution Ave., NW 12 1101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 8 1318 Vermont Ave., NE 3 700 Pennsylvania Ave., NW 13 Ceremonial entrance to Arlington 9Lincoln Park, 13th and East Capitol National Cemetery 4The U.S. Capitol, between Independence Streets, NW and Constitution Avenues 14 Boundary Channel Exit on I-395 South Statue: The FDR suffragist and temperance leader Memorial features a statue of of ; and Mother Joseph of Washington, a Eleanor Roosevelt that recognizes nun and architect who led a group of missionaries 11 her not for her role as First Lady, but to the Pacific Northwest Territories in 1856. for her service as the United States’ Representative to the United Nations. Location: The U.S. Capitol, between At the United Nations, Eleanor Roosevelt was the Independence and Constitution Avenues driving force behind the Universal Declaration of Metro: Orange or Blue Lines to Capitol South, Human Rights, a document that helped set the Red Line to Union Station tone for the post-Cold-War world. In her lifetime, Eleanor Roosevelt was known as First Lady of the Phone: 202-224-3121 World; and, as Adlai Stevenson said, “Eleanor Hours: 9am-8pm, daily Roosevelt would rather light a candle than curse Amenities: Guided tours, gift shops the darkness, and her glow warmed the world.” www.senate.gov/~dpc/women/ The dignity and eloquence of this statue pay suffragist.html tribute to a woman who did the best she could every day of her life to work for equality, civil rights, human rights and justice. Museums: Location:The FDR Memorial, alongside Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park National Museum of Women in the Metro: Orange or Blue Line to Smithsonian or Arts:This museum features the Foggy Bottom-GWU accomplishments of women in the arts, with a collection that includes Phone: 202-426-6841 artwork created by women from many 7 Hours: 8am-midnight, daily nations and spanning different eras. Amenities: Bookstore The collection exists because Washington philanthropist Wilhelmina Cole Holladay and her husband began acquiring art by women in the U.S. Capitol — Women’s Suffrage 1960s as they noticed a dearth of art by women in Monument: Three of the leaders of museums. In addition to a permanent display of the suffrage movement: Elizabeth artwork from a wide variety of disciplines, the Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and museum holds educational programs, produces 4 , are represented by a publications, hosts special exhibits and supports marble statue in the U.S. Capitol research. Rotunda. The suffrage statue was stored in the basement for years until a group of women raised Location: 1250 New York Avenue, NW the funds to move it to its present location. Metro: Red Line to Metro Center Additionally, the Collection also includes tributes to Jeanette Phone: 202-783-5000 Rankin of Montana, the first woman to serve in Hours: 10am-5pm, Mon-Sat.; 12-5pm, Sun. the U.S. Congress; Esther Hobart Morris of Amenities: Education/Research Center, Wyoming, the nation’s first woman justice of the Mezzanine Café, gift shop peace; educator Florence Sabin of Colorado; www.nmwa.org civic leader Maria Sanford of Minnesota; Exhibits: Military Women’s Corridor - : A corridor of the National Museum of American Pentagon is devoted to the women History: From Parlor to Politics who fought and assisted the military 14 examines the emerging forces during our nation’s wars. A replica of 2 impacting women’s lives including the Vietnam Women’s Memorial, the organization of women’s groups, biographies and personal belongings contribute to the rising concern for social issues and the exhibit. Special attention is given to Dr. Mary the fight for equal rights and suffrage. First Ladies: E. Walker and Rear Admiral . Walker, Political Role and Public Image looks into the a Civil War battlefield surgeon, is the only woman different ways First Ladies have chosen to fulfill recipient of the Medal of Honor. Among many other the role as public hostesses, promoters of social accomplishments, Hopper is recognized as the change, political allies and cultural activists. This computer genius and mathematician who created display contains personal and campaign items, as the COBOL computer language. well as an exhibit of Inaugural gowns. Location: Boundary Channel Exit Location: 14th Street and on I-395 South Constitution Avenue, NW Metro: Blue or Yellow Line to Pentagon Metro: Orange or Blue Lines to Smithsonian Phone: 703-695-1776 Phone: 202-357-2700 Hours: 9am-3pm, Mon.-Fri.; closed weekends Hours: 10am-5:30pm, daily and federal holidays Amenities: Cafeteria, gift shops, audio tours Amenities: Guided tours, gift shop, snack shop americanhistory.si.edu Tours subject to change www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pentagon

Newseum:Tr a i lb l a z i ng women journalists including Ida B. Wells, General Federation of Women’s Clubs Nelly Bly, Margaret Bourke-White, (GFWC): Recognized as one of the 12 , , and world’s largest and oldest women’s many others are recognized for their volunteer organizations, the GFWC breakthroughs and contributions to the works locally in an estimated 6,000 10 media. In nearby Park, the names of 50 clubs throughout the United States. women are included on a memorial to journalists, The organization also operates around which honors those who lost their lives covering the globe in more than 20 countries to support the various conflicts and investigating corruption and arts, promote education, work toward world other illegal activities. peace and cultural understanding and protect natural resources. A National Historic Landmark, Location: 1101 Wilson Boulevard., GFWC headquarters also houses the Women’s Arlington,VA History and Resource Center Metro: Orange Line to Rosslyn Location: 1734 N Street, NW Phone: 703-284-3544 or 888-NEWSEUM Metro: Red Line to Hours: 10am-5pm Wed.-Sun.; closed holidays Amenities: Gift shop Phone: 202-347-3168 www.newseum.org Hours: 9am-5pm, Mon.-Fri. Amenities:Tours by appointment only www.nurelm.com/gfwc National Archives and Records Administration: History becomes interactive at the National Archives 3 and Records Administration. Visitors can examine firsthand the actual historical documents that trace the origins of great American social movements. Documents relating to women in American history include papers from the women’s rights movement, the development of the Equal Rights Amendment and Title IX regulations. Visitors should call in advance of any visit as access to documents may require the assistance of archivists.

Location: (Research) 700 , NW Metro:Yellow Line to Archives-Navy Memorial

Phone: 202-501-5205 or 202-501-5400 Hours: 8:45am-5pm, Mon-Wed.; 8:45-9pm,Tues.,Thurs., Fri.; 8:45-4:45, Sat. Amenities: Gift shop, tours of research facilities by appointment only

The President’s Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History U.S. General Services Administration Department of Communications 1800 F Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20405

http://www.gsa.gov/staff/pa/whc.htm The President’s Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History U.S. General Services Administration Department of Communications 1800 F Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20405

http://www.gsa.gov/staff/ pa/whc.htm