14 Empowering Places That Celebrate the Accomplishments of Women

Visit the birthplace and childhood home of Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and also the first to fly solo across the United States in a nonstop flight. The Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum, located in her Gothic Revival home, contains photographs, newspaper clippings and personal belongings from the famous female aviator who vanished in 1937 while on a flight around the world.

The museum is open for in-person tours by appointment on a limited schedule. Visit the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum website for details.

Dedicated as a national monument in 2016, the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument has served as the headquarters of the National Woman’s Party since 1929. Inside the historic house and museum you’ll find exhibits about Alice Paul, Alva Belmont and other key figures in the fight for women’s suffrage and the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

The site is temporarily closed to the public for renovations; check the National Park Service's website for reopening updates.

You may be familiar with Boston’s Freedom Trail, which connects more than a dozen sites relating to Revolutionary history, but did you know there is also a women-focused trail? The Boston Women’s Heritage Trail comprises 12 walks highlighting significant places, sculptures and historic homes and buildings relating to the city’s famous women.

If you can’t visit in person, check their website for a 4-minute virtual tour.

Said to be the only national historic site dedicated to a First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site offers a peek into the public and private life of Eleanor Roosevelt — as a wife, mother, grandmother, diplomat and activist. Hike the grounds to walk in her footsteps, or take a guided tour of Val-Kill cottage, where she lived after the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945.

Visit the National Park Service's website for a link to a virtual tour.

At Harriet Tubman National Historical Park, see the home where African American abolitionist Harriet Tubman lived. A visitor center introduces you to her life and her many accomplishments — escaping slavery and bringing dozens of slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad being just a few. The exterior of her residence is also open to view. Just up the street is Thompson Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church, her former place of worship, and Fort Hill Cemetery, where she is buried.

Tours are offered on a limited basis; check the National Park Service's website for details.

A survivor of the Titanic disaster, Margaret "Molly” Brown made a name for herself in politics, philanthropy and social causes, working with national suffrage leaders to help pass the 19th Amendment and even running for a U.S. Senate seat. You can visit her restored Victorian home and learn more about her life and legacy at the Molly Brown House Museum.

Check the website for online ticket sales and virtual tours.

Said to be the world’s only museum celebrating the women of the West, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame highlights the contributions made by pioneering female artists, writers, entertainers, ranchers and trailblazers. You’ll get to ride on a mechanical bronco and see personal effects from Annie Oakley as well as cowgirls who performed in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.

When it comes to showcasing female artists, the National Museum of Women in the Arts shines with a collection of more than 5,500 works by 1,000 artists — all of them women — including Mary Cassatt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, Louise Bourgeois and Judy Chicago. Continuing the theme even further, the museum shop offers products from women-owned and -operated businesses.

Note: The museum is closed for renovations until 2023, but you can check out their virtual programming online.

Tour the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House to see what was once the headquarters of the National Woman Suffrage Association, an organization which abolitionist and civil rights leader Susan B. Anthony co-founded with Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1869 to push for the passage of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote. The front parlor of the brick Victorian home is where Anthony was arrested for voting in 1872.

The museum is open for in-person tours by online reservation only.

Learn about the first women to fly U.S. military aircraft during World War II — known as the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) — at the National WASP World War II Museum, located at the airfield where most of the training took place. Two hangars contain exhibits, photos, uniforms and military aircraft (including a Fairchild PT-19 and Vultee BT-13) that help tell the story of the WASP members who trained at the facility from 1942 to 1944.

In 1929, Amelia Earhart and 98 other female aviators formed The 99s, an international organization of women pilots that continues to inspire women in the field of aviation. You can visit the Ninety-Nines Museum of Women Pilots to learn about the first female commercial and military pilots and others who broke through barriers in a male-dominated field.

The museum is open for in-person visits. Check the website for a virtual tour.

Women played a major role in the home front effort during World War II, with many in defense industries earning the nickname “Rosie the Riveter” based on a popular song at the time. At Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park, you can explore exhibits relating to the war effort and see a shipyard where more than 700 wartime cargo vessels were built.

COVID-19 note: The National Park Service's website offers virtual chat programs to talk with park rangers.

All levels of women’s basketball are represented at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, which celebrates the accomplishments of female players over more than 100 years of basketball history. You’ll see photographs of college teams from the 1890s, memorabilia from the 1936–86 All American Red Heads professional team and uniforms from the Olympic Games. You can even shoot some hoops and practice your passing skills on an indoor court.

The town of Seneca Falls is often called the birthplace of the women’s rights movement, as it hosted the first women’s rights convention in 1848. Make your own pilgrimage to the Women's Rights National Historical Park to explore the history of the convention and its roster of revolutionary attendees, including such figures as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and Frederick Douglass. You can also tour a few historic homes that were used as meeting places during the convention.

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