MA Women's History Center

11/03/2026

Happy Election Day! Don’t forget to vote! Today, Americans across the country are going to the polls! In addition to Congressional, state, and local races, there are ballot questions in Massachusetts! Exercise your right to vote today and let your voice be heard! Polling hours are from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. For information, such as your polling place and identification requirements, visit our website! https://bit.ly/3NB1q25

11/02/2026

Time is running out! Join us Monday, November 9th at the Massachusetts Women's History Center 2026 Gala! Link to buy tickets below! We will be inducting the Inaugural Class of the Massachusetts Women's Hall of Fame - Historic and Living Inductees!
Monday, November 9, 2026 @ 6pm
Sheraton Boston, 39 Dalton Street, Boston, MA.

They are thrilled to announce the LIVING INDUCTEES:
• Margaret Burnham - Distinguished Professor of Law Emerita
• Freida Garcia - Beloved Community Activist
• Doris Kearns Goodwin - Pulitzer Prize-Winning Historian
• Margaret Marshall - Precedent-Setting Jurist
• Boston Women’s Health Book Collective/Our Bodies, Ourselves -Writing the Book on Women, Health, & Sexuality
• Helen Chin Schlichte - Pioneering Public Servant
• Nancy Schön - Sculptor of Public Art
• Grace Sterling Stowell -Trailblazing LGBTQ Activist
• Benaree (Bennie) Wiley - Pioneering Corporate & Civic Leader

Get your tickets now! The Massachusetts Women's History Center 2026 GALA is coming up fast: Monday, November 9, 2026, 6pm at the Sheraton Boston, 39 Dalton St., Boston!  Join us as we induct the Inaugural Class of the Massachusetts Women's Hall of Fame - HISTORIC & LIVING! Callie Crossl...

10/30/2026

Today’s HISTORIC inductee spotlight leading up to their Induction into the MA Women’s Hall of Fame, Mon., Nov. 9, features Phillis Wheatley Peters! HISTORIC Inductee Phillis Wheatley Peters (1735-1784) was the first Black woman in the American colonies to publish a book. Her 1773 book Poems of Various Subjects, Religious and Moral drew local support and international acclaim. Her remarkably swift rise from enslaved child to published poet was capped by her early death at the age of 31. Join us for the MWHC GALA when the First Class of the MWHOF will be inducted, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, 6 pm, and visit MWHOF to learn more about the inductees! https://bit.ly/4yjBEV8

10/29/2026

Today’s HISTORIC and LIVING inductee spotlights leading up to their Induction into the MA Women’s Hall of Fame, Mon., Nov. 9, feature Mercy Otis Warren and Benaree (Bennie) Wiley! HISTORIC Inductee Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814) published poetry, plays, and pamphlets denouncing British tyranny and supporting the American War for Independence. Through her tracts, correspondence, and early history of the Revolution, she shaped some of the most important debates of her time. LIVING Inductee Benaree (Bennie) Wiley has been a groundbreaking corporate and civic leader in Massachusetts for more than five decades. Wiley was one of the first Black women and the first woman to attend Harvard Business School, earning an MBA in 1972. Join us for the MWHC GALA when the First Class of the MWHOF will be inducted, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, 6 pm, and visit MWHOF to learn more about the inductees! https://bit.ly/4yjBEV8

10/28/2026

Today’s HISTORIC and LIVING inductee spotlight leading up to their Induction into the MA Women’s Hall of Fame, Mon., Nov. 9, features Lydia Taft and Grace Sterling Stowell! HISTORIC Inductee Lydia Taft (1712-1778) cast the FIRST known vote by a woman in colonial America. As a widow of Josiah Taft and inheritor of his estate, Uxbridge Town Meeting members encouraged Taft to vote at a town meeting, and she agreed, casting the deciding ballot to help fund Massachusetts regiments in the French and Indian War. LIVING Inductee Grace Sterling Stowell has been a pioneering activist and leader in the LGBTQ, youth, and social justice communities for nearly 50 years. Born and raised in Massachusetts, Stowell is the longest-serving transgender executive director in the nation. Join us for the MWHC GALA when the First Class of the MWHOF will be inducted, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, 6 pm, and visit MWHOF to learn more about the inductees! https://bit.ly/4yjBEV8

10/27/2026

Today’s HISTORIC and LIVING inductee spotlight leading up to their Induction into the MA Women’s Hall of Fame, Mon., Nov. 9, features Jenny Slew and Helen Chin Schlichte! HISTORIC Inductee spotlight: Jenny Slew (1719-unknown) was the first enslaved American to win her freedom through a jury trial. She sued her enslaver twice, losing her first suit in 1765 but winning her second suit in 1766. LIVING Inductee Helen Chin Schlichte worked under 12 Massachusetts governors in administrative and finance roles, becoming a well-respected figure on Beacon Hill over the course of 50+ years. Alongside her government work, she has held community and non-profit leadership positions, co-founding the South Cove Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, an elder facility serving the Chinese community, and the Asian Community Fund. Join us for the MWHC GALA when the First Class of the MWHOF will be inducted, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, 6 pm, and visit MWHOF to learn more about the inductees! https://bit.ly/4yjBEV8

10/26/2026

The MA Women’s History Center is honored and excited that Callie Crossley, acclaimed television and radio host, commentator, and public speaker, will be our Emcee at our upcoming Gala, Mon. evening, Nov. 9! Ms. Crossley hosts GBH's weekly program, "Under the Radar with Callie Crossley," co-hosts "The Culture Show," appears regularly on GBH's daily midday talk show, Boston Public Radio, and offers occasional commentaries for Morning Edition. Come join us! https://www.mawomenshistory.org/join-us-mwhc-gala-monday-november-9-2026-6pm

10/26/2026

Today’s HISTORIC and LIVING inductee spotlight leading up to their Induction into the MA Women’s Hall of Fame, Mon., Nov. 9, features Deborah Sampson Gannett & Nancy Schön! HISTORIC Inductee spotlight: Deborah Sampson Gannett (1760-1827), one of the nation’s first female soldiers! Born in rural Plymouth County, Sampson enlisted in the military in 1782 under the pseudonym Robert Shurtleff, and served in battle throughout the Northeast as a Continental soldier, hiding her identity as a woman.LIVING Inductee spotlight: Nancy Schön, a pioneering, world-renowned public artist whose sculptures inspire connection, imagination, and joy. Her iconic Make Way for Ducklings sculpture was installed in the Boston Public Garden in 1987, and her varied sculptures are throughout Massachusetts, the U.S., and the world, including Moscow, Russia. Join us for the MWHC GALA when the First Class of the MWHOF will be inducted, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, 6 pm, and visit MWHOF to learn more about the inductees! https://bit.ly/4yjBEV8

10/25/2026

Today’s HISTORIC and LIVING inductee spotlight leading up to their Induction into the MA Women’s Hall of Fame, Mon., Nov. 9, features Sarah Bradlee Fulton and Our Bodies Ourselves! HISTORIC Inductee spotlight: Sarah Bradlee Fulton (1740-1835), known as “Mother of the Boston Tea Party” for her role in supporting the provocative protest against British rule and participating in the patriot cause. LIVING Inductee spotlight: Our Bodies Ourselves, founded in 1969, started as the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, when a group of women met during a feminist workshop in Boston and realized how little reliable and accessible information existed about their own bodies. They created the pioneering handbook Our Bodies, Ourselves, selling over four million copies, and continue to provide health and sexuality information, feminist analysis, and personal stories online, as part of Suffolk University's Center for Women's Health and Human Rights. Join us for the MWHC GALA when the First Class of the MWHOF will be inducted, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, 6 pm, and visit MWHOF to learn more about the inductees!
https://bit.ly/4yjBEV8

10/24/2026

Today’s HISTORIC and LIVING inductee spotlight leading up to their Induction into the MA Women’s Hall of Fame, Mon., Nov. 9, features Enslaved Women of Massachusetts, names known and names once known, and Margaret Marshall! HISTORIC Inductee Spotlight: Enslaved Women of Massachusetts, names known and names once known. Thousands of women and girls endured the degrading conditions of slavery in colonial and Revolutionary MA. MA, home to an active abolitionist movement, was also home to more than 5,000 enslaved people in the mid-1700s. LIVING Inductee spotlight: Margaret Marshall, the first woman to serve as Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court! Marshall wrote the decision for the landmark 2003 case Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, which legalized same-sex marriage in Massachusetts and paved the way for marriage equality nationwide. Join us for the MWHC GALA when the First Class of the MWHOF will be inducted, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, 6 pm, and visit MWHOF to learn more about the inductees! https://bit.ly/4yjBEV8