Music HerStory: Women and Music of Social Change
Smithsonian Libraries and Archives
Scope Of Work
Smithsonian Exhibits worked with Smithsonian Libraries and Archives and the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage to develop, design, and produce the exhibition Music HerStory: Women and Music of Social Change. The exhibition opened in the Dibner Gallery at The National Museum of American History on June 22, 2022. The exhibition will remain on view until March 25, 2025. “Music HerStory” tells the powerful stories of women who used music to challenge gender stereotypes; bring forth revolutionary self-expression; reimagine political and social change; push boundaries for the labor movement, women’s health and education; and deliver victories for temperance and suffrage activism.
Objects on display include the Jean Ritchie’s dulcimer made by George Pickow (Viper, Kentucky, 1951), Elizabeth Cotten’s Folksongs and Instrumentals with Guitar (Folkways Records, 1958), Lydia Mendoza’s La Gloria de Texas (Arhoolie Records, 1980), Gustavus D. Pike’s The Jubilee Singers, and Their Campaign for Twenty Thousand Dollars (Boston and New York, 1873) and riot grrrl zines of the 1990s.
“Music HerStory” received support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative. Special thanks to The Arhoolie Foundation and the DC Public Library.
SIE Departments Involved:
- Exhibit Planning
- Exhibit Design
- Graphic Production
- 3D Studio
- Fabrication
- Installation/Rotation Support
