#womenshistory

"Girl with a Cat," Gwen John, 1918-22. John (1876-1939) was a Welsh painter who had a very individual style that defies easy categorization. There's Realism, of course, an influence of Impressionism, and maybe even some Pointillism. Her misty, hazy portraits of mostly unidentified women are usually very simple and direct, with no elaborate poses or attempts at symbolism. Usually they simply had their hands in their laps, and their hair in simple arrangements. The girl here has an almost sad expression; one wonders what is on her mind. John's work was overlooked for many years, in part because her younger brother Augustus John (1878-1961) was such a huge artistic force in his life, and because of her relationship with her lover/mentor Auguste Rodin. But in recent years she has undergone reassessment and is now hailed as a unique vision in the art world. Happy Portrait Monday! From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. #Art #GwenJohn #Realism #WomenArtists #WomenInArt #WomensHistory #CatsOfMastodon

I’m building an archive of women, trans, non-binary, and intersex folks deeply connected to the plant world 🌿 (botanists, herbalists, artists, researchers, foragers...). I want to celebrate both hidden histories and present-day creators 📜🔍. Who inspires you in this space? Drop your recommendations in the comments so we can grow this together! 🌳

The Women and the King: Scottish Witch Hunts Under James VI https://digpodcast.org/2026/06/28/the-women-and-the-king-scottish-witch-hunts-under-james-vi/ #WomensHistory #BritishHistory #EarlyModern #witchcraft #witches #WomensHistory #podcast #histodons #history @histodons

I'm reading a book of classical poems by Arab women, and found this gem from some 1000 years ago: "Leave me alone, you’re not my equal, you’re not a man of the world nor a man of faith, yet you want to own me, you mindless twit." (by Umm Ja'far bint Ali) That's it. That's the whole poem. #poetry #poem #WomensHistory #women #literature #art #bookstodon

#OnThisDay, 1 May 1944, South African Phyllis Latour parachutes into occupied France to be a radio operator for the British Special Operations Executive. She's never captured. She died in 2023, in New Zealand. #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #WorldWar2 #Histodons 1/2

Very early #OnThisDay, 30 April 1944, New Zealander Nancy Wake parachutes into occupied France to be a courier for the Special Operations Executive. The British SOE supported French Resistance to Nazi occupation. Couriers like Wake would take messages and materials such as explosives, guns or grenades around the patch their network covered. Nick-named 'the white mouse' by the Gestapo, she's never captured. She died in 2011. #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #WorldWar2 #Histodons

#OnThisDay, 28 April 1730 OS*, Anna Ivanovna is crowned the Empress of the Russian Empire. The Privy Council picked Anna as she was widowed and childless. They imposed a set of Conditions through which they would control her. She literally tore them up, and continued her uncle Peter the Great’s modernisation. Like many Russian rulers, she could be cruel, vindictive and abuse her power. *Old Style date #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #RussianHistory

#OnThisDay, 27 April 1925, Edna Ferber wins the Pulitzer Prize for fiction with her novel 'So Big'. She donates the prize money to the Authors League to support sick and elderly authors. #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #ReadMoreWomen #AmericanHistory #Histodons

#OnThisDay, 25 Apr 1990, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro becomes the first woman to be elected President of Nicaragua. She served for six years, stabilising the economy. #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #CentralAmericanHistory #Histodons

#OnThisDay, 2 Apr 1917, Jeanette Rankin is sworn in, becoming the first woman to sit in the US Congress. #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #AmericanHistory #Histodons

#OnThisDay, 30 Jan 1913, Ida B Wells forms the Alpha Suffrage Club in Chicago, Illinois, to give a voice to Black women who had been excluded by national suffrage organisations because of their race. In March 1913, the club headed to Washington DC to take part in the national Women’s Suffrage Procession. They were told to march at the back, in a segregated section, so as not to upset white southern women. #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #AmericanHistory #Histodons 1/2

#OnThisDay, 28 Nov 1967, Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovers the existence of pulsars. Not included in the 1974 Nobel prize for the discovery, Bell received a £3m prize for her work in 2018. She's used it to set up a foundation to improve the diversity in STEM. #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #WomenInSTEM #Histodons

#OnThisDay, 15 Nov 1982, at least 11 women* from the Greenham Common Peace Camp in the UK are sent to prison. They had refused to be bound over to keep the peace after occupying a sentry box on the US base. *some sources say 23, others 11. #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #BritishHistory #ColdWarHistory #Histodons 1/2