Women's History Month at NYPL

Get to know the brilliant, self-made single women who were famous on both sides of the Atlantic and counted among their fans at least one queen and a president. Devoney Looser discusses her new biography of Jane and Anna Maria Porter, and actors will read a selection of the sisters' inimitable correspondence.

Join award-winning science journalist Angela Saini as she explores the roots of what we call patriarchy, uncovering a complex history of how it first became embedded in societies and spread across the globe from prehistory into the present.

Join us as Meredith Broussard, data scientist and one of the few Black female researchers in artificial intelligence, reveals the  biases hard-coded into today's facial recognition algorithms encouraging discriminatory lending, and the dangers of medical diagnostic algorithms trained on insufficiently diverse data.

Through August 19 | Library for the Performing Arts 

Join The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in celebrating the long and colorful career of costume designer Willa Kim in her first-ever major retrospective exhibition, featuring an assortment of designs and costumes from her long and prolific career, including work from productions like Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, The Will Rogers Follies, and her final Broadway show, Victor/Victoria starring Julie Andrews.

Uncover the real Virginia Woolf through intimate diary entries, unpublished letters, and more in the first major exhibition of her work at the Library in 30 years. Taken from NYPL's world-leading collection of her writings, highlights of the exhibition span her lifetime, including photographs from her youth, drafts of Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse, and her last diary entry from 1941. Use our free audio guide to hear new readings from her work—plus, listen to conversations between authors Francesca Wade and Brandon Taylor about her life and legacy on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app.

Recommended Reading

• Black Feminism Introductory Research Guide
• Sheroes in the Schomburg Center’s Collections

Watch Now

• Black Feminist Futures

Upcoming Event

• Mon, 4/3 at 6 PM | Agnes de Mille: Women’s Narratives and Agency 

Recommended Reading

• Anna May Wong: A Look at Her Career As She Graces the New Quarter
• Exploring the Gilda Navarra Archives at the Library for the Performing Arts 
• Feeling The Movement in the Dance Films of Marian Van Tuyl
• Remembering Angela Lansbury, Icon of Stage and Screen
• Women Producers on Broadway in the Late 20th Century

If the stories we tell become our culture and our history, then it matters who is telling the stories. It hasn't always been easy to be heard, but women storytellers—novelists, poets, journalists, actors, photographers—have found ways to reframe our understanding of the past and give voice to their lived experiences to shape the future.

• Children's Books About Women Artists
• Graphic Novels Featuring Strong Girls
• Kids Books & Digital Resources: Women Who Tell Our Stories

Explore items in the Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures that showcase women storytellers in many forms, from arts and media to advocacy with our new guide on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app. The women featured include writers, performers, photographers, illustrators, designers, and civil rights campaigners who entertained, inspired, and made history by utilizing their talents and sharing their experiences. 

• English
• Español 
• 中文

Listen to Paloma Celis Carbajal, Curator of Latin America, Iberian, and U.S. Latino Collections, discussing Mexican writer Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, whose Segundo Volumen is on view, and other women writers represented in the exhibit, such as African American poet Phillis Wheatley.

Support the Library and check out books, apparel, and more featuring famous women at the Library Shop.

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