Picturing Women Inventors (ongoing)
At the National Museum of American History, Lower Level
If you had to name an inventor, would it be a woman? Like their male counterparts, women inventors represent all segments of American society, but their stories are often overlooked or undervalued. Picturing Women Inventors highlights the distinctive motivations, challenges, and accomplishments of exceptional 20th- and 21st-century inventive women who are diverse both personally and professionally. Presented in bold wall murals, with text in English and Spanish, the exhibition illustrates the creativity of women inventors while inspiring young people (especially girls) to see themselves as future inventors.
Picturing Women Inventors is organized by the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, and was developed in collaboration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and made possible with the support of Lyda Hill Philanthropies IF/THEN Initiative and Ericsson.
Women included in Picturing Women Inventors at the National Museum of American History: Patricia Bath; Theresa Dankovich; Marion O’Brien Donovan; Marilyn Hamilton; Grace Hopper; Marjorie Stewart Joyner; Stephanie Kwolek; Alexis Lewis; Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller, and Polly Palmer Smith; Ellen Ochoa; Amy Prieto; Charlotte Cramer Sachs
Picturing Women Inventors (ongoing)
Poster Exhibition
In collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, Picturing Women Inventors is also available as a series of eight posters that explores the inventions of 19 highly accomplished American women. Astronauts, computer pioneers, and businesswomen join athletes, engineers, and even teenagers in this remarkable group of inventors. Ideal for classrooms or other learning environments, the poster exhibition also comes with curriculum material developed by Smithsonian educators at the Lemelson Center. The poster exhibition includes most of the stories featured in the museum installation, along with additional historic and contemporary women inventors. To order, please visit https://s.si.edu/3dupTWc .
The Picturing Women Inventors poster exhibition is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, and was developed in collaboration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and made possible with the support of Lyda Hill Philanthropies IF/THEN Initiative and Ericsson.
Women included in the Picturing Women Inventors poster exhibition: Tara Astigarraga; Patricia Bath; Ayah Bdeir; Cynthia Breazeal; Theresa Dankovich; Marilyn Hamilton; Grace Hopper; Marjorie Stewart Joyner; Michelle Khine; Stephanie Kwolek; Alexis Lewis; Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller, and Polly Palmer Smith; Madison Maxey; Ellen Ochoa; Amy Prieto; Sharon Rogone; Kavita Shukla; Mária Telkes
Inventive Minds: Women Inventors (2018–2020)
Inventive Minds Gallery, Lemelson Hall of Invention, National Museum of American History
Inventive Minds is a changing exhibition gallery that introduces museum visitors to the Lemelson Center’s mission to foster an appreciation for the central role of invention and innovation in the history of the United States. In our ongoing work to document American inventors and increase our understanding of the inventive process, the Lemelson Center works with the museum's archivists and curators to collect, preserve, and share the historical records of inventors and innovators from all segments of American society.
Through first-person videos, artifacts, and archival materials, visitors to Inventive Minds learn about the traits that successful inventors share—insatiable curiosity, keen problem-solving skills, tenacity, and flexibility in the face of failure—and explore the creative spirit of American invention.
From September 2018 through December 2019, the Inventive Minds gallery features a selection of stories illustrating the creativity of women inventors over more than a century. The exhibition was updated with new inventors' stories in April and August 2019.
Women included in Inventive Minds: Women Inventors at the National Museum of American History: Patricia Bath; Theresa Dankovich; Marion O’Brien Donovan; Marilyn Hamilton; Grace Hopper; Marjorie Stewart Joyner; Margaret Knight; Stephanie Kwolek; Alexis Lewis; Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller, and Polly Palmer Smith; Ellen Ochoa; Amy Prieto; Sharon Rogone; Charlotte Cramer Sachs; Laura Shepherd; Madam C. J. Walker; Cindy Whitehead; Woman’s Building, 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, designed by architect Sophia Hayden
