Celebrate International Women’s Day at the Hall!

📅 Saturday, March 8th, 6:30 PM

📍 The Hall – Now Reopening for the 2025 Season!

Join us for a special evening featuring Dr. Antonia Novello, the first woman and first Hispanic Surgeon General of the United States (inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1994), and Jill Tietjen, former CEO of the National Women’s Hall of Fame and bestselling author.

Event Highlights:

✨ Live Presentation & Book Signing
📖 Dr. Antonia Novello – Author of Duty Calls: Lessons Learned From an Unexpected Life of Service, an inspiring memoir of leadership and resilience.
📖 Jill Tietjen – Co-author of Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America and author of Inspiring Women of the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

🍷 Enjoy a celebratory reception with food by Simply Homemade and wine tastings from Boundary Breaks and Fireline 6 Winery.

Ticket Information:

🎟️ $15 – Non-Members
🎟️ $10 – Members

📚 Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Come celebrate the achievements of extraordinary women and the reopening of the Hall for the 2025 season!

Women’s History Month – March 2025 at the Hall

Patchwork of Pioneers: The Growing Paper Quilt

Join us in creating a vibrant, collaborative art piece that honors famous women in history! Kids can color and add their own honeycomb pieces to our expanding paper quilt, celebrating the achievements of inspiring women. Watch as the quilt grows with each contribution, symbolizing the strength and impact of women throughout history! 

In partnership with Jenny Knappenberger, of Art with Jenny K (artwithjennyk.com) 

Be a part of history—one colorful piece at a time! 🎨✨

Friday, March 14 at 6:30pm – Communicate, Agitate, Motivate: The Role of PR in the Fight for Women’s Rights feat. Arien Rozelle

Join us for an insightful discussion on the power of public relations in advancing women’s rights. Featuring PR expert Arien Rozelle, this event will explore how strategic communication, advocacy, and media influence shape social change. Learn how PR professionals can be catalysts for activism, mobilization, and policy shifts.

Expect an engaging session filled with real-world examples, strategic insights, and inspiration to use communication as a tool for progress. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with like-minded changemakers!

Saturday March 15th, 2:00pm – Bead the Way: Perler Beads, Women of American History

Join us for a creative and educational event where kids can craft Perler bead portraits of inspiring women in history! Pay homage to five great women: Sacagawea, Betsy Ross, Harriet Tubman, Amelia Earhart, and Sally Ride. 

From trailblazers like Harriet Tubman to pioneers like Amelia Earhart, kids will bring history to life—one bead at a time! This hands-on activity is the perfect way to learn, create, and celebrate the incredible contributions of women throughout history. 

Materials included with the cost of a ticket. 

Don’t miss out on this fun-filled day of art, learning, and inspiration!

New Exhibit: “Creating Childhood Wonder: Women Illustrators of the Golden Age” 

Opening Reception: Saturday, March 22nd 

Meet the curator from 12pm – 2pm 

Through the display of works by eight little-known women artists commissioned by the American Book Company, Creating Childhood Wonder: Women Illustrators of the Golden Age seeks to examine the impact of these individuals in the education of the United States’ youth during the early twentieth century. This exhibition celebrates the artistry of these women and how they broke boundaries within a male-dominated field, contributing a special sense of magic and whimsy to childhood educational materials. 

Curated by Molly Dano
In partnership with Museum Studies at Syracuse University

Friday, March 28th, 6:30pm – Meet Author Sara Catterall

Join us for a meet and greet with Sara Catterall, author of Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-Fashion Icon. This book is a fascinating look at an underappreciated woman in American history whose newspaper fostered a national conversation on women’s issues. 

Amelia Bloomer, inducted in 1995, edited and published The Lily, the first newspaper for and by women. 

Saturday, March 29th, 2:00pm – Steeped in History: Tea with Trailblazing Women

Step into history and sip in style at our tea party honoring trailblazing women! 

On March 29th at 2 PM, kids and adults alike are invited to dress as iconic women in history and enjoy an afternoon of tea, treats, and inspiration. Enter our costume contest for a chance to win exciting prizes—kids and adults alike!

Come celebrate women’s achievements in the most delightful way—one cup at a time! 🍵✨

Fall/Winter 2024 Exhibitions

Creative Women of the Finger Lakes: Art and Craftivism (11/9/2024-3/8/2025): In partnership with the Finger Lakes Art Council, the Hall will be hosting Creative Women of the Finger Lakes: Art and Craftivism from November 2024 until March 2025. This exhibit showcases the work of women artists and craftivists from the Finger Lakes region of New York, often highlighting themes of social activism and personal expression through creative practices.

“I Strove to Realize Myself and to Serve” The Howland Daguerreotypers: An Exhibit of Early Portraits (10/18/2024-2/15/2025): The National Women’s Hall of Fame is proud to host this early portrait exhibit on the life of Emily Howland. This exhibit takes visitors on a visual journey through Howland’s early life living in Sherwood, NY, showcasing daguerreotype and tin type portraits of her family, mentors, and students. Curated by Larry Bell of the Howland Stone Store Museum, this exhibit was originally sponsored by the Cayuga County Office of Tourism.

Dirty Laundry and Other Women’s Work (9/13/2024-1/4/2025): We are thrilled to announce that the National Women’s Hall of Fame will be hosting Dirty Laundry and Other Women’s Work, an exhibition by Corning-based artist Julie Thurber from Friday, September 13th, 2024 until January 4th, 2025.

Immerse yourself in stories of women struggling for their rights, their choice, and their voice in this interactive exhibit. Thurber brings these stories to life on vintage undergarments from the post Civil War to the middle of the 20th century period showcasing the distinct difference between the stories being given and how the garments are usually presented.

Summer 2024 Exhibitions

The National Women’s Hall of Fame is excited to announce that the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street traveling exhibition Voices and Votes: Democracy in America will be on view from July 12 to August 23. 

The exhibition is part of the Museum Association of New York’s humanities discussion series “A New Agora for New York: Museums as Spaces for Democracy.” The National Women’s Hall of Fame will use the Smithsonian exhibition as a launching point to explore, reflect on, and tell the story of the role of women in the evolution of American democracy.

As part of the “A New Agora for New York” project the Hall will host a response exhibition that includes: 

• The national fiber arts exhibition Co-Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism, curated by Juilee Decker and Hinda Mandell (Rochester Institute of Technology)
• La Cicatrice, an art exhibition by Rebecca Aloisio (Rochester Institute of Technology)
• A mural design and installation by artists Victor Pultinas and Bernadette Bos
• The Rollercoaster for Women’s Rights, Equality, and Freedom, curated by Mia Tetrault, Greta Paasch and Betty Bayer (Hobart and William Smith Colleges), showcases the Hall’s archives and its inductees on the long history of the yet-to-be ratified Equal Rights Amendment (E.R.A.)

The exhibition also includes a humanities discussion series featuring: 

• A presentation by Senior Historian and Curator at the New York State Museum and Agora Project Scholar, Ashley Hopkins-Benton, on museums, archives, and stories told and untold
• A collection of oral histories from members of the public about how democracy takes shape in Seneca Falls
• Additional workshops, programs, and talks will take place throughout the summer

Scholar’s Talk
July 27, 2024 | 2 PM
Featuring Ashley Hopkins-Benton, Senior Historian and Curator of Social History at the New York State Museum, Museums, Democracy, and the Importance of Diverse Collections. Reservations are not required for this program. 

Museums can, and should, be a vital place to learn about democracy—why it is important, how it has failed, and all of the work that has taken place to make it better. Museums can be a place to be inspired by the tactics that have been used successfully to work for equal rights, as well as a place to confront the inequalities that persist. To truly serve this purpose, it is vital that museums focus on building diverse collections, develop ties with diverse communities, and work to share these resources in diverse ways. This talk will highlight some of these efforts at the New York State Museum, especially focused on collections related to women’s rights, civil rights, LGBTQ+ history, and immigrant history.

Community Conversation
July 31, 2024 | Time TBA (Evening)
Check back for details!

*** Join the Hall’s enewsletter to stay up to date on all museum events this summer! ***

Co-Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism

The curatorial team consists of Betty Bayer, Tamar Carroll, Juilee Decker, Hinda Mandell, and Samaya Nasr and colleagues at the Hall.  Juilee Decker and Hinda Mandell are grateful for the support of the curatorial team, in particular Samaya Nasr, and would also like to thank the following colleagues from the RIT community: Liz Call, Landyn Hatch (RIT ‘20), Scott Nost (RIT ‘22), Jan Adil (RIT ‘22), and current students Lucia Bazdresch, Claire Gallucci, Renee Guerin, and Bella Herendeen. The installation was enriched by the assistance of Mia Tetrault, Greta Paasch and Betty Bayer from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. In addition, Juilee and Hinda would like to thank SewGreen Rochester for their donation of materials for the Little, Free Craft Depot. They would also like to thank RIT’s College of Liberal Arts and the Museum Studies Program in particular, and Dr. James Hall and RIT’s School of Individualized Study. Special thanks are due to Genesee Country Village & Museum, in particular curator Brandon Brooks and Peter Wisbey, for the loan of mannequins to display fiber art, and museum staff Jill Johnson and Izzy Moyer, who assisted with the installation of Voices and Votes (a crated show is never as easy to install as it appears to be!).

La Cicatrice, curated by Rebecca Aloisio

Central New York-based artist, Rebecca Aloisio, has been exploring the medium of  collage and mixed media for the past decade. Originally earning her BFA in sculpture  from the Cleveland Institute of Art, Aloisio uses her knowledge of 3-Dimensional  space and photographic material to inform her imagery.  Aloisio received her MFA from Syracuse University and is Senior Lecturer in the College of Art and Design at Rochester Institute of Technology. She is a recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Grant and has had solo exhibitions at the University of Rochester, the Schweinfurth Art Center in Auburn, NY, Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center in Buffalo, NY, and The Firehouse Art Center in Longmont, CO. This October she has been awarded an artist residency at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, NY. More examples of her work and exhibition history can be found at  www.rebeccaaloisio.com.

Artist statement: Cicatrice is a French term meaning a mark or scar left by a healed wound. It may also refer to a mark on a stem that is left when a leaf or other part becomes detached (Oxford Dictionary). Like the transformative journey of Frankenstein’s creation, this new work aims to depict the constant evolution and mutation of our collective experiences, as well as the profound influence of technology on the human condition. How do we document ourselves? What moments do we choose to monument? How do these moments change us? Do these images help connect us to the world or are there so many, we have no choice but to disassociate? Ultimately, I seek to make images that hold viewers accountable, forced to question and challenge the authenticity of images that “lie” before them.

About Voices & Votes
Voices and Votes is a Museum on Main Street (MoMS) exhibition developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. It’s based on an exhibition by the National Museum of American History. It has been made possible in New York State by the Museum Association of New York. Support for MoMS in New York State has been provided by the United States Congress and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.

“A New Agora for New York: Museums as Spaces for Democracy” humanities discussion programs are made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

About Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service
SITES has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside Washington, D.C., for more than 65 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science and history, which are shown wherever people live, work and play. For exhibition description and tour schedules, visit sites.si.edu.

About the National Women’s Hall of Fame
The National Women’s Hall of Fame was founded to bring the contributions and achievements of American women fully into our national narrative. We believe that an equitable and healthy nation is possible when all people are empowered to achieve their dreams. The Hall serves as a home for women’s stories, informed discussion, and collaborative partnerships. As a hybrid (virtual and physical) institution, the Hall aspires to be a national leader in conversations about women, their history, and the future.

About the Museum Association of New York
The Museum Association of New York is New York’s representative of the MoMS program, an outreach program of the Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Service, and is the only statewide museum service organization with more than 750 member museums, historical societies, zoos, botanical gardens, and aquariums. MANY helps shape a better future for museums and museum professionals by uplifting best practices and building organizational capacity through advocacy, training, and networking opportunities. Visit www.nysmuseums.org and follow MANY on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn @nysmuseums

About the National Endowment for the Humanities
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.

About the William G. Pomeroy Foundation
The William G. Pomeroy Foundation® is committed to supporting the celebration and preservation of community history; and working to improve the probability of finding appropriate donor matches or other life-saving treatments for blood cancer patients. Established by Trustee Bill Pomeroy in 2005 to bring together his two greatest passions, the Pomeroy Foundation is a private, philanthropic organization located in Syracuse, N.Y. As the nation’s leading funder of historic roadside markers, the Pomeroy Foundation has awarded more than 2,100 grants for markers and bronze plaques in 48 states and Washington, D.C. To learn more about the Pomeroy Foundation, visit wgpfoundation.org.

About Humanities New York
Using dialogue, reflection, and critical thinking, Humanities New York applies the humanities to strengthen democratic society. Established in 1975 as the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Humanities New York is a private 501(c)(3) organization that may receive federal, state, and private funding. To learn more about Humanities New York, visit humanitiesny.org.