THE
VALUE OF
WOMEN SPECIAL REPORT
HISTORY
www.mdwomensheritagecenter.orgClara
Clara Barton
Maryland Women’s
Heritage Center & Museum
Rachel
Carson
Marin
Alsop
Scheduled to open in the spring, the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center & Museum will be the first state-focused museum dedicated to “inclusively rec- ognizing the contributions of Maryland women of diverse backgrounds and
regions,” says Executive Director Jill Moss Greenberg.
“We’re [also] very consciously creating a model for what
other states can do to honor women and girls.”
Located in the former Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.
headquarters in Baltimore, this is an outgrowth of the
Maryland Women’s History Project, a 1980 joint effort
between the Maryland Commission for Women and
the Maryland State Department of Education, which
oversees numerous projects. As a result, the organiza-
tion’s board includes Maryland’s current and former
first ladies and other state figureheads.
Museum plans call for a combination of exhibits
and displays featuring women in sports, business, the
arts, science and technology, education and politics.
The heritage center will include a hall of fame with 125
renowned inductees from throughout Maryland as well
as “unsung heroines,” says Greenberg, “women who were
the glue that held together our families, communities.”
Notable women who will be featured:
; Margaret Brent, the first woman in the American colonies to demand the right to vote
; Mary Pickersgill, whose flag inspired the national
anthem
; Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross
; Henrietta Szold, founder of adult education
; Marin Alsop, the first woman to become conductor of a
major orchestra in the United States
; Rachel Carson, a zoologist and author who spearhead-
ed the modern environmental movement
As a testament to women’s collaborative spirit, the
center was designed and built by women-owned busi-
nesses, and many of the products and services used for
the launch were donated by women-led organizations.
“What’s most important,” stresses Greenberg, “is that
equity and diversity are at the core of our museum.” I
Want to
Learn
MORE?
; International Museum
of Women
www.imow.org
; National First Ladies’
Library
www.firstladies.org
; National Museum
of Women in the Arts
www.nmwa.org
; San Diego Women’s
History Museum and
Educational Center
www.whmec.org
; Sewall-Belmont
House & Museum
www.sewallbelmont.org
; United States Army
Women’s Museum
www.awm.lee.ar
my.mil
“We have to build things
that we want to see accomplished, in life and in our country,
based on our own personal experiences ... to make sure that others ...
do not have to suffer the same discrimination.”
PATSY TAKEMOTO MINK, FIRST ASIAN-AMERICAN CONGRESSWOMAN; FOUGHT FOR
EQUAL TREATMENT OF WOMEN IN ATHLETICS IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
For more on women’s history museums, go to
www.DiversityInc.com/womenshistorymuseums
