These unique opportunities are a part of a grant program awarded to the Irving Archives and Museum by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative Series. This series of five lectures begins Wednesday, March 3, 2021 and concludes Wednesday, March 31, 2021. Registration is required. Participants should register through the associated links below.

1) Wednesday, March 3, 2021 at 7 PM EST

African American Women’s Activism in Historical Perspective

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Highlighting objects related to African American women’s history in the Smithsonian collections, this event focuses on African American women’s activism and contributions in historical perspective. Each speaker will explore an interesting aspect of African American women’s activism through an extended discussion of one or two objects.

Featuring:

• Nancy Bercaw, PhD, Chair, Division of Political and Military History, National Museum of American History
• Aleia Brown, PhD, Assistant Director, Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities
• Modupe Labode, PhD, Curator, National Museum of American History
• Crystal Moten, PhD, Curator, National Museum of American History

2) Wednesday, March 10, 2021 at 7 PM EST

Lena Richard and Julia Child: Two Women Who Changed Culinary History

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Through their cookbooks, teaching, and television programs, these extraordinary women inspired generations of people to take cooking seriously. They challenged perceptions and stereotypes of women in their respective eras and made lasting contributions to culinary history. Their stories, reflective of their very different backgrounds, reveal insights about women, race, food, and culture in 20th-century America.

Featuring:

• Paula Johnson, Curator, National Museum of American History
• Ashley Rose Young, PhD, Historian, National Museum of American History

3) Wednesday, March 17, 2021 at 5 PM EST

Women in Aerospace: Stories from the Smithsonian Collection

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Dr. Margaret Weitekamp has researched and written on how a groundswell of support helped create a Lego set representing women’s contributions to aerospace. Join us for a discussion of how women have worked from the very beginning of aviation to innovate, and how museums have documented their stories.

Featuring:

• Margaret Weitekamp, PhD, Curator and Department Chair, Space History Department, National Air and Space Museum

4) Wednesday, March 24, 2021 at 7pm EST

Ancient Worlds Contemporary Selves: Smithsonian Scholars Explore Intersectionality

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In this discussion, scholars from the National Museum of the American Indian, Asian Pacific American Center and Smithsonian American Art Museum explore how artists integrate the ancient world within their contemporary artistic practice. In so doing, their works update and create new meanings, allowing them to pass on complex and layered cultural interpretations to future generations.

Featuring:

• Michelle Delaney, PhD, Assistant Director for History and Culture, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian Healoha Johnston, Curator, Asian Pacific American Women’s Cultural History, Smithsonian’s Asian Pacific American Center
• Claudia Zapata, Curatorial Assistant, Smithsonian American Art Museum

5) Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 5 PM EST

Women Artists Respond to Place

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The significance of landscapes, places, and narratives of all kinds will be examined through the works of contemporary women artists in Smithsonian collections.

Featuring:

• Tuliza Fleming, PhD, Curator of American Art, National Museum of African American History and Culture Rebecca Trautmann, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, National Museum of the American Indian

Moderated by:

Tricia Edwards, Deputy Director, Smithsonian Affiliations