Harriet Tubman or Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but the majority of U.S. history is dominated by male leaders. Ever read about the work of Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig, co-developer of the “blue baby” heart procedure that has saved thousands of lives Does the name Muriel Siebert, the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, sound familiar Did you know that, despite working to pave the way for the passage of the 19th Amendment, Susan B. Anthony never actually cast a legal ballot
Discovering women’s history and paying tribute to women leaders inspires, builds self-esteem and creates a can-do attitude that helps 51 percent the nation’s population reach their potential. But women have not yet achieved political, economic or professional parity, which is why continuous learning through women’s history museums is important for womenand men.
“Regardless of how things may seem on the surface, women do not yet have equality,” says Christine Moulton, executive director of theNational Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, N.Y., home of the Women’s Rights Convention. “We ask visitors, ‘Do you think women have equality and parity’ Very often, we hear a quick ‘Yes, I can go to college. I can play sports. Those opportunities are open to me.’ So I think there’s sometimes a lack of awareness of pay-equity issues and of female representation on Fortune 500 boards and in the upper echelons of companies,” she says. “We’re lagging behind many countries in the world in that we’ve not elected a female head of state yet. There are still many issues facing women.”
