National Collaborative for Women's History Sites

The National Collaborative for Women's History Sites (NCWHS) is a United States nonprofit membership organization focused on making women's contributions to American history more visible in museums, historic sites, public history programs, and related cultural-heritage venues. It works as a professional network, resource center, and advocate for the preservation and interpretation of places connected with women's lives and participation in American society. The organization was created in October 2001 by representatives of more than twenty historic sites associated with American women, together with roughly twenty additional organizations devoted to preserving and interpreting women's history. Its formation responded to the limited presence of women's history at historic sites: at the time of its creation, the founders noted that only about four percent of the nation's historic sites interpreted subjects relating to women's history. NCWHS was therefore designed to support local and regional organizations that lacked extensive resources by connecting them with peers, sharing practical information, and helping them develop stronger interpretive programs. NCWHS's work includes publications, workshops, webinars, professional-conference panels, heritage-trail development, and the creation or distribution of guidance for public historians. Its resources address how historic places can incorporate women's experiences into interpretation rather than treating women's history as an isolated or occasional topic. The organization serves a broad membership that includes curators, interpreters, site managers, history consultants, faculty members, students, museums, historic sites, and members of the general public. The collaborative frequently develops programs with other history and preservation organizations. Identified partners include the National Park Service, the National Women's History Project, the Organization of American Historians, preservation agencies, professional history organizations, and individual historic sites. This partnership model allows NCWHS to extend its reach beyond a single museum or locality and to encourage a more inclusive treatment of women's roles in political, social, cultural, economic, and community history. Among its best-known areas of activity is the National Votes for Women Trail, an initiative intended to document and interpret the history of the women's suffrage movement and to broaden the story beyond a narrow set of nationally prominent figures. The project seeks to tell the suffrage experiences of all women and is undertaken in partnership with the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. NCWHS is headquartered at the Evanston History Center in Evanston, Illinois, and is governed by a board of directors. Heather Huyck is identified as chair of the board. The organization is best understood not as a commercial consumer brand but as a national professional and public-history network whose value lies in its convening role, educational materials, technical guidance, and support for institutions interpreting women's history.

The National Collaborative for Women's History Sites emerged in October 2001 from a meeting of organizations and historic places concerned that women's history was substantially underrepresented in the interpretation of American heritage sites. Its founding group included representatives of more than twenty historical sites connected to American women and about twenty additional organizations involved in preserving women's history. The founders highlighted the fact that only a small proportion of historic sites interpreted women's history and sought to create an infrastructure that could assist local groups in expanding that work. Rather than functioning as a single museum or preservation owner, NCWHS was organized as a nonprofit membership network. Its purpose was to connect curators, interpreters, site managers, consultants, scholars, students, museums, historic sites, and interested members of the public. The collaborative provides a clearinghouse for information and encourages institutions to share methods for identifying women's stories, preserving associated places, and presenting those stories to broad public audiences. Its activities have included practical publications, workshops, webinars, panels at professional conferences, and materials intended to improve interpretation at historic sites. The organization has also promoted heritage trails and partnerships with national, professional, and preservation organizations. Among the organizations and agencies identified as partners or collaborators are the National Park Service, the National Women's History Project, the Organization of American Historians, other preservation agencies, and individual historic sites. NCWHS's publications include Revealing Women's History: Best Practices at Historic Sites and Women's History: Sites and Resources. These works reflect the organization's emphasis on applied public history: helping institutions move from general recognition of women's importance to concrete decisions about collections, interpretation, educational programming, and site narratives. A major project associated with the collaborative is the National Votes for Women Trail. The initiative aims to make the history of women's suffrage more geographically and socially inclusive by identifying places and stories connected with women across the country, rather than limiting the subject to a small number of nationally recognized leaders. NCWHS undertakes this work in partnership with the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. The organization is headquartered at the Evanston History Center in Evanston, Illinois, and is governed by a board of directors. Heather Huyck has been identified as board chair. NCWHS continues to occupy a specialist role in the United States public-history field, supporting the preservation and interpretation of sites that document women's participation in American life.

• 2001

  NCWHS is founded

  [1]National Collaborative for Women's History Sitesen.wikipedia.org

  Representatives of more than twenty women's-history-related historic sites and approximately twenty partner organizations establish the National Collaborative for Women's History Sites.

A national nonprofit network and resource center for museums, historic sites, public historians, educators, and communities seeking to preserve and interpret women's history.

• Professional publication

  Revealing Women's History: Best Practices at Historic Sites

  A practical resource associated with NCWHS's effort to help historic sites improve the preservation and interpretation of women's history. It addresses methods for incorporating women's experiences into site narratives and public-history practice.

• Reference publication

  Women's History: Sites and Resources

  A reference-oriented publication that directs researchers, educators, and public historians toward places and resources relevant to women's history. It reflects NCWHS's role as a clearinghouse for information about sites and interpretation.

• Heritage trail and interpretive project

  National Votes for Women Trail

  A nationwide heritage project intended to identify and interpret locations connected with the struggle for women's suffrage. The project seeks to represent the experiences of all women and is developed with the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.

• National Votes for Women Trail

  United States

  NCWHS's effort to create a more inclusive public record of the women's suffrage movement by connecting sites and stories throughout the United States. The stated goal is to tell the untold story of suffrage for all women.

  Outcome. The project became an ongoing heritage and interpretation initiative carried out in partnership with the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.

  Source

1. 1National Collaborative for Women's History Sitesen.wikipedia.org
2. 2National Collaborative for Women's History Sites official websitencwhs.org