Women's History Month

Celebrating Big Moments: Women’s History in Wisconsin

The Society is celebrating BIG moments in Wisconsin history, including the significant impact that women have had on the history of the state. Learn about this impact through the articles, artifacts, and other important items below that help tell the story of women in Wisconsin.

Iconic Wisconsin Women

Wisconsin women have made many contributions to state and national history, yet our textbooks often reduce women's history to the campaign for suffrage at the expense of everything else. While the right to vote was indeed an important victory for women, it's just one of many issues that women have sought to change. Wisconsin women of many races, classes and ethnic groups left their mark on our history.

This article explores the stories of 12 Wisconsin women overlooked by history. We hope it inspires you to take a deeper dive into the lives of the amazing women who shaped, and continue to shape, our state.

Learn More

Explore More Women's History

Learn more about women’s history in Wisconsin and beyond through the historical essays below.

Full-length portrait of two Ho-Chunk women standing on either side of an older Ho-Chunk woman who is sitting. Each woman is wearing a long skirt, a blouse, and jewelry, and the woman sitting also has a shawl on her lap. Both standing women are resting a hand on the seated woman's shoulders.

Women’s History in Wisconsin

Formal studio portrait of Belle Case La Follette wearing a black lace dress. This photograph was taken about 1885, the year in which her husband, Robert M. La Follette, Sr., first went to Washington, D.C., as a Republican congressman. It is probably a dress that she wore to official parties and gatherings in the capital.

The Women’s Suffrage Movement

A woman at International Harvester's Tractor Works looks through a filing cabinet or a card catalog

Women’s Hidden Work in Wisconsin

Carte-de-visite portrait of Cordelia Harvey wearing a hooded cape.

Wisconsin Women in the Civil War

More Historical Essays

Fascinating Items from the Society's Historical Collections

The Society has over 20,000 items related to women’s history available to explore in our online collection, and this collection is always growing. Explore some of these amazing items and the stories behind them below.

Land of the Freed-up Woman American flag banner made from bras, 1971

Engelman's Bra Flag

Rosie the Riveter Coveralls

Ho-Chunk Beaded Shoes

More Historical Items

Compelling Images from the Society's Historical Collections

Dickey Chapelle, photographer, on the same Milwaukee beach where she learned to swim as a young girl. She was covering 'Operation Inland Seas' celebrating the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway. She is holding her camera and there is a tank in the background. This is her favorite photograph of herself at work.

Women & War

Poster issued by the Milwaukee County League of Women Voters that graphically urges women to vote.

Suffrage

Female worker inspecting small plastic and metal parts at International Harvester's West Pullman Works.

Women at Work

Wisconsin Women

More Historical Images

Women in Politics | Women's Suffrage Map | Anti-Women's Suffrage Poster | Votes for Women buttons | Actresses

Celebrate Women's History with us at these events

“We Stand on their Shoulders” exhibit

Feb 2020 - Jan 2021 | During Museum Open Hours

Wisconsin Historical Museum

CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Celebrate the passage of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote, and discover how strong leaders and passionate groups gained long-overdue rights for women.

League of Women Voters Tea

Apr. 18 | 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Villa Louis

CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Enjoy an afternoon tea, women’s history, and fashion as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote!

Remarkable Women of Lake Geneva

May 10 | 12:30 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Black Point Estate

CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Celebrate the remarkable women of Geneva Lake while taking a voyage with the Lake Geneva Cruise Line to Black Point Estate.

More Historical Events

The Women’s Hour Has Struck | The Making of Pioneer Women | So We Won The Vote | The Great Battle for Wisconsin Suffrage

Support the Preservation of Women's History

Make a BIG impact by supporting the Society's efforts to continue to collect, preserve, and share stories about women's history, and all Wisconsin history.