Women's Museum of California

11/11/2024

During World War I over 7,000 women applied to be part of Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators Unit but only 450 women were accepted. The unit was nicknamed the "Hello Girls" and they operated telephone exchanges in France and England. Despite the fact that they wore U.S. Army Uniforms and were subject to Army Regulations they were considered "civilians" employed by the military.

It wasn't until 1978, the 60th anniversary of the end of World War I, that the United States Congress approved Veteran Status for the "Hello Girls".

11/05/2024

Generations of courageous women struggled over 70 years to bring about a constitutional amendment granting women that right. From its first stirrings before the Civil War to its final victory in 1920, suffrage was the largest reform movement in American history.

The fight was led by impassioned leaders such as Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and carried out by millions of women. They made speeches, signed petitions, marched in parades, dropped leaflets from airplanes, and argued over and over again that women, like men, deserve full citizenship and have an inalienable right to participate in the democratic process.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 sought to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented racial minorities, especially Black voters in the South, from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th and 19th Amendments to the Constitution. The 1975 extension of the Voting Rights Act ended discrimination against "language minorities," including those who speak Asian, American Indian, Alaska Native, and Spanish languages, by requiring certain jurisdictions to provide translation materials for voter registration information and ballots.

11/04/2024

Meet A California Suffragist: Selina Solomons

After the failure of the 1896 campaign Selina dedicated her time to reach out to working class women. She believed that the 1896 campaign was too elitist and did not connect with the majority of the people. As a result she founded the Votes for Women Club in downtown San Fransisco to educate shop girls, clerks, and other working people on the suffrage cause. The club also took aim at other social issues of the time like prostitution and workers rights.

In 1912, Selina published How We Won the Vote in California, an account of the lobbying efforts endured during the suffrage campaign.

11/03/2024

Meet a California Suffragist: Clara Shortridge Foltz

Noted as a “leader of woman suffrage on the Pacific Coast,” Foltz has been accredited founder and champion of the public defender system, this mother of five was the first female deputy district attorney.

With only three years of formal education under her belt, Clara Foltz was determined to become the apprentice of a San Jose attorney after divorcing her husband in 1877. The attorney’s denial and amendment to the California Code of Procedure limiting membership in the legal profession to white males spurred Flotz to make some changes. Clara fought alongside Laura de Force Gordon to pass the Woman Lawyer’s Act in 1878, a milestone in the history of women’s professional progress.

Foltz was sworn in as the first female attorney on the Pacific Coast in 1878, but denied access to UC Hasting’s College of Law. Foltz and Gordon sued the board for sexual prejudice, demanding the right to study law. After several months and an appeal, the women gained the right to attend law school, paving the way for future generations to study law.

In 1879 Clara became the first female clerk to the California Assembly Judiciary Committee. Flotz practiced law throughout the U.S., while also rising in the suffrage movement’s leadership to president of the California Woman Suffrage Association at the age of thirty-one. Clara founded the Votes for Women Club in 1911 helping to pass the 19th Amendment. Newspapers lauded Clara as the “leader of woman suffrage on the Pacific Coast.”

11/02/2024

Meet a Califronia Suffragist: Clara Lee, along with Emma Hoo Tom, was the first Chinese American woman to vote in the United States.

Clara was born in Portland, Oregon in 1886 and moved to her family to Oakland, California. Her husband, Charles Goodall Lee, the first Chinese American licensed as a dentist in California.
Clara was the founder of the Chinese Women’s Jeleab Association, an advocacy group and social club for Chinese women in the Bay Area, and was active in other women’s clubs, including the YWCA. After the successful October 1911 suffrage campaign, Clara registered to vote at the Alameda County courthouse on November 8, 1911

11/01/2024

The partnership between Women's Museum of California and San Diego History Center unites two of San Diego’s premier nonprofits in their shared mission to preserve and celebrate the region’s history

The Women’s Museum of California held an event on Oct. 21 titled “Red, White, and Blue on the Runway” at The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. The fundraising luncheon featuring noted scholar, sp…

11/01/2024

Lydia Flood Jackson was born in the Bay Area in 1862, her family was on of the earliast African American residents of Oakland.

Lydia was an activist and clubwoman who campaigned for both civil rights and women’s rights throughout her life. She was the first legislative chair and first citizenship chair of the California Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs.

Her activism took her all over Latin America and the Caribbean where she campaigned for women’s rights and challenged women to fight against white male supremacy.

On her 100th birthday the city of Oakland honored her by proclaiming her as its “oldest living native”. She passed away in 1863 at the age of 101.

10/31/2024

Meet A California Suffragist: Maria Guadalupe Evangelina de Lopez

Lopez (1881-1977) was a leader in the California suffragist movement, the first person to translate suffrage speeches into Spanish, an active clubwoman, and educator in Los Angeles.

Lopez started off her teaching career by teaching English as a second language at Los Angeles High School. Later on she went on to become a translator at UCLA.
Her time working in higher education was groundbreaking. In 1902, Lopez became the youngest instructor to teach at UCLA and also has the honor of being the very first confirmed Latina instructor at the university. By the 1930’s, Lopez served as president of UCLA’s women’s club for faculty

One of Lopez’s major contribution to the suffrage movement was her continuation of her previous translation service. The Votes for Women Club held a large rally in 1911, the year Californians were to vote on women’s suffrage and during the rally Lopez rose up to give her speech in Spanish, which was unprecedented at the time.

Lopez became the president of the College Equal Suffrage League, while also publishing an article in the Los Angeles Herald making the bold claim that men and women deserve equal rights, that should not be distinguished by gender, under the foundations of democracy.

Lopez must have left a lasting impression on the staff of the Los Angeles Herald and later on in 1913, the Herald published that Maria Lopez ought to be selected as a suffragist representative California that would march in the 1913 Suffrage Parade in Washington, D.C

10/30/2024

The journey towards the American woman’s enfranchisement, spanning the late 19th century into the early 20th century, was persistently defined by a spirit of female courage, perseverance, and loud mobilization.

There were two campaigns for suffrage in the United States – the national campaign to pass a constitutional amendment and the state campaign to legalize the women’s vote state by state

California women won the vote in 1911. Over the next week get to know some of the notable California suffragists who helped win the vote for women.

Although born in Boston on February 2nd, 1891, Alice Park decided to spend most of her life in California, writing from her home in Palo Alto to figures such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and arguing against the carnage of World War I. A suffragist, vegetarian, pacifist, and socialist, Park additionally engaged in an international activism, participating in the Congress of the International Women’s Suffrage Alliance in Budapest in 1913, and serving as a delegate to the Tenth Congress of the International Women’s Suffrage Alliance in Paris, France in 1926. In the early years of the twentieth century, Park became one of California’s leading suffragists and traveled around the state giving speeches in favor of women to gain the right to vote. She would hold meetings for women’s groups and argue that when women earn the right to vote it would change the world, conditions would improve, and specifically according to Park, women would never vote in favor of war. California was an early leader in women’s suffrage and thanks to the work of women like Alice Park, California became the sixth state in the Union to pass legislation ensuring the right to vote for women.

10/29/2024

Are you interested in booking a presentation for your next meeting or event? You can now book Women's Museum of California speakers and presentations on the San Diego History Center website!

The San Diego History Center tells the diverse story of our region – past, present and future – educating and enriching our community, preserving our history and fostering civic pride.

10/25/2024

Did you know California women won the vote in a statewide campaign in 1911? Learn about the diverse coalition of California suffragists who fought for their right to access the ballot with the Women's Museum of California's pop-up exhibit on display at the Rancho Peñasquitos Library.

10/24/2024

"For more than four decades, the Women's Museum of California has showcased the influential women who have shaped the region," said Sandra Maas, board president of WMC. "This partnership allows us to expand our reach and continue inspiring future generations." via KPBS

Established in 1983, the women's museum will integrate into the history center, which was founded in 1928.

10/24/2024

From a volunteer project that started in Mary Maschal’s home in 1983 to our current place in Balboa Park, the Women's Museum of California has spent over forty years amplifying women’s accomplishments and contributions both past and present. Now, we’re entering an exciting new era by merging to become a program within the San Diego History Center! Together, we’ll continue to highlight the achievements of women and inspire future generations. Read more about this exciting announcement: https://bit.ly/4eQH6Wy Via Times of San Diego

The women's museum -- which was established in 1983 by Mary Maschal as the Women’s History Reclamation Project -- will be integrated into the history center, which was founded in 1928.

10/17/2024

Seating is limited! Purchase your ticket for the Women's Museum of California's luncheon before tickets run out. Don't miss this special event on October 21st featuring fashion history, great food, and fun friends:

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the only fashion show held at the White House.

10/14/2024

Next Monday! Don't miss out on your chance to get a behind the scene look at the only fashion show held at the White House:

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the only fashion show held at the White House.

10/09/2024

See you at the movies! Once again the Women's Museum of California is proud to partner with the San Diego International Film Festival for the Women’s Film Series. Don’t miss out on the chance to watch these special films featuring female filmmakers plus in the FEST LOUNGE we’ll be hosting the Festival’s Women in Film: Breaking Barriers and Shaping the Industry. The panel will be moderated by Women's Museum of California board president Sandra Maas. https://sdfilmfest.com/spotlight-on-women-filmmakers/

10/06/2024

Inside the Women’s Museum of California archives are sports memorabilia from famed World War II-era baseball player, Alice “Lefty” Hohlmayer.

Items in the collection included photographs, signed trading cards, baseballs, and a collectible bobblehead doll.

These items help preserve the legacy of the groundbreaking All-American Girls Baseball League and the athletes who paved the way for future women in professional sports. The memorabilia of Alice Hohlmayer that reside in the Women’s Museum archives serve as representatives of the more than 600 women who played in the league for the 12 years it existed.

At age 20, Hohlmayer got the unique chance to play in a professional baseball league. It was an opportunity women players today can only dream of. Lucky for Hohlmayer she was born at just the right time. During WWII, Professional Baseball came to a grinding halt while male players were drafted overseas. In order to fill the empty stadiums and to keep morale high, a new baseball league was born. Baseball fans turned to the women of America to fill the national pastime gap. Lefty joined the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1946 at its heydey, boasting 8 teams and playing 110 game schedules.

10/01/2024

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the only fashion show held at the White House.

Join the Women’s Museum of California on Monday, October 21, at The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe for a fundraising luncheon featuring noted scholar, speaker, and Biography Channel expert Dr. Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, author of Red, White, and Blue on the Runway: The 1968 White House Fashion Show and the Politics of American Style.
https://www.simpletix.com/e/red-white-and-blue-on-the-runway-tickets-183029