Throughout March, the Library commemorates Women's History Month by lifting up stories, achievements, and experiences past and present. Explore book recommendations, watch online events, and discover how local women helped shape Kansas City’s history.
Women's History and Experiences in Books and Film
Check out lists of recommended books about women trailblazers and changemakers, and browse a collection of female-focused films available through the Library's free streaming services.
BROWSE LISTS
Women’s History Month Programs & Activities
Tune in to online Library events that explore the role of women in our culture from the history of Westward Expansion through contemporary technology and society. You can also watch video presentations of past programs from the Library’s 19th Amendment Centennial series in 2020.
EVENTS
Women Who Made History - A Colorful Past
The Library's Missouri Valley Special Collections has two coloring books available for free download that celebrate the lives and contributions of local women in our region's history. Read about these notable Kansas City women and get digital copies of the coloring books to print out and enjoy at kchistory.org.coloringkc.
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Teen Books Feature Strong Female Reads
Teens and tweens can try out the Library's new Read Outside the Box service - reserve a box with two or three specially themed books and other special freebies, personally picked out by our youth librarians, with titles varying by box and revealed upon opening. The March theme is Smash the Patriarchy, featuring books with strong female characters.
DETAILS
RESEARCH & RESOURCES
Women's Rights and Activism during Kansas City's Jazz Age
The Library's historical website The Pendergast Years: Kansas City in the Jazz Age & Great Depression has a collection of images, articles, and other items in its digital collections that provide insight into women's issues during the 1920s and '30s. In the years following the ratification of the 19th Amendment, giving women nationwide the right to vote, female activists in Kansas City undertook efforts to reform municipal government, serve in elected office, break down employment barriers, and lead social and civic clubs in movements to improve the health and welfare of disadvantaged populations. Their efforts often influenced key moments in the city’s history, such as passage of the 1925 city charter that unintentionally helped Tom Pendergast consolidate power and then the “clean sweep” reforms following Pendergast’s indictment for tax evasion in 1939.
BROWSE THE SITE | Articles | Photos
Everyday Life and Women in America
This digital resource features rare primary source material from the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History, Duke University and The New York Public Library. It comprises documents and images addressing 19th and early 20th century political, social and gender issues, religion, race, education, employment, marriage, sexuality, home and family life, health, and pastimes.
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