The best Women’s History Month events in NYC

The phrase “women’s work” is often used derisively to indicate labor that’s seen as “less than,” but a new exhibit at New-York Historical Society reclaims that phrase. Aptly titled "Women's Work," the show chronicles the history of women's contributions to labor and how those efforts are both inherently political and essential to American society. 

The exhibit features dozens of objects in the museum's collection from indenture documents to medical kits to military uniforms. With items ranging from the 1740s to today, the show celebrates the strides society has made in equality while not shying away from highlighting the gender-based inequalities that persist today.

"Women's Work" is on view through August 18, 2024 in the Joyce B. Cowin Women’s History Gallery at New-York Historical Society on the Upper West Side.

When Komal Shah starting collecting art more than a decade ago, she noticed something startling: "The art world does not treat women artists equally" compared to male artists. 

She decided to do something about that by founding the Shah Garg Foundation with her husband, Gaurav Garg. The organization champions artwork by women and seeks to remedy the imbalances facing marginalized artists. Nearly 100 pieces of art from their collection are now on view in a powerful and diverse show called "Making Their Mark: Art by Women in the Shah Garg Collection" in Chelsea (548 West 22nd Street). It's free to visit through March 23, 2024; hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-6pm.

The expansive exhibition fills two stories with stunning works by artists including Firelei Báez, Cecily Brown, Judy Chicago, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Mary Weatherford, Anicka Yi, and many others. The show features paintings, drawings, textile works, sculptures and mixed media pieces by significant artists from the last eight decades. 

It's another election year, and once again, women's rights are on the ballot. What would the suffragists who fought for women's right to vote say to us now, a century later?

Shaina Taub, the powerhouse writer of Suffs, a musical coming to Broadway this spring, answers that question with a lyric: “Keep marching. Keep marching on.” It’s a line from the finale of the show, which she produced with support from former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai. The show opens on March 26, fittingly during Women's History Month, at the Music Box Theatre.

A refreshing new fashion exhibit at The Met hands the mic to pioneering women designers who dress women of all shapes and sizes. The exhibition shows how female designers have reclaimed the body—and are reclaiming the message in fashion.

"Women Dressing Women" showcases 80 garments by 70 makers, from couture gowns by well-known designers like Donna Karan to political garments by Katharine Hamnett to plus-size outfits by Ester Manas. The exhibition, curated by The Costume Institute, is on view at the Upper East Side museum through March 10, included with museum admission. It highlights rare pieces from the collection, many of which are on view at The Met for the first time. 

The exhibition explores the subject through four sections: anonymity, visibility, agency, and absence/omission. Focusing on the period between the early 1900s and today, the collection offers a snapshot of fashion history and fashion trends. 

Journey back in time to the Lower East Side at the turn of the century. A new exhibit at The Museum at Eldridge Street introduces the often-overlooked stories of 29 women who lived or worked in the neighborhood. 

The exhibition, titled "28 Remarkable Women...and One Scoundrel" features mixed media portraits by artist Adrienne Ottenberg, which are printed on silk and cotton banners. They're hung throughout the museum's gallery and historic sanctuary. Stories about the women highlight the work, life, and impact they made culturally, on social justice movements, and more.

Those featured in the exhibition include:

• Political activist Frances Perkins, who upon witnessing the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, took on an influential role in the worker's rights advocacy movement. That led her to eventually become President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor—the first-ever woman cabinet member.
• Suffragist and activist Mabel Ping-Hua Lee who campaigned for women’s rights to vote and was the first Chinese woman in the U.S. to earn her doctorate.
• Public healthcare worker Elizabeth Tyler, who was the first Black nurse hired at Henry Street Settlement. She went on later to establish the Stillman House Settlement on Manhattan's West Side, which provided health care and social services to the Black community in San Juan Hill.

See the show at the Lower East Side venue through May 5, 2024. The museum is open Sunday through Friday from 10am to 5pm. Admission is $15/adult; pay-what-you-wish admission is offered on Monday and Fridays. Reserve in advance here.

At a time when only 11% of acquisitions at U.S. museums are created by female-identifying artists, the Brooklyn Museum's Center for Feminist Art is displaying 48 emerging and established women photographers. The exhibit showcases photographs from artists born in or working from Europe, including Vanessa Beecroft, Carolle Bénitah, and Silvia Rosi. Everything in the exhibit was made after the year 2000 and focuses on issues of migration, the legacies of nationalism in Europe, and the male gaze as a patriarchal power structure. See it starting on March 8 through July 7.

It’s no secret that the U.S. is particularly astute at obscuring history it's not very proud of, which has left us with limited knowledge about this country’s past. Among the historical figures who were never given their flowers were the Black Angels, a group of nurses who risked their lives to take care of tuberculosis patients at Sea View Hospital in Staten Island and who were an important part of reducing deaths from the bacterial disease in the U.S. 

Now, you can learn more about the nurses at the Staten Island Museum’s newest exhibition, “Taking Care: The Black Angels of Sea View Hospital,” which highlights the stories of these little-known figures of New York City’s history.

In 1951, Sea View Hospital tested a new treatment for tuberculosis, an illness which killed one out of every seven people living in the United States in the 19th century. 

As she donned the black robe for her role on the Supreme Court, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was known to adorn the traditional garment with a wide array of collars and necklaces. 

Now, her fashion is getting the spotlight in a new photography exhibit called "RBG Collars: Photographs by Elinor Carucci." See it at The Jewish Museum on the Upper East Side through May 28, 2024. 

The installation features two dozen photographs of the late justice’s collars and necklaces taken shortly after Ginsburg died in 2020. This is the first time the Carucci’s photographs are being shown at the Jewish Museum since the images were acquired in 2021.

Throughout Women’s History Month, the New-York Historical Society will showcase women’s stories through exhibitions, installations, and public programming. Here's what's coming up:

— Kay WalkingStick / Hudson River School
On view through April 14
The exhibit places landscape paintings by the renowned, contemporary Cherokee artist Kay WalkingStick in conversation with highlights from New-York Historical’s collection of 19th-century Hudson River School paintings.

— A Conversation with Kay WalkingStick
Featuring: Kay WalkingStick, Wendy Nālani E. Ikemoto
Friday, March 8, free on Zoom

— Women Who Preserved New York City
On view through June 9
This installation explores how three women—Shirley Hayes, Margot Gayle, and Joan Maynard—galvanized communities to save historic buildings and places.

— Serving Style: Ted Tinling, Designer for the Tennis Stars
On view through June 23
This installation spotlights the designer who made many of Billie Jean King’s iconic looks.