Women Have Always Worked XSeries

This four-part, self-paced course series explores the history of women in America and introduces students to historians’ work to uncover the place of women and gender in America’s past.

Participants learn about how women’s participation in, exclusion from, and impact on American economic, political, and social life have altered American history. The course also covers how key figures and events have challenged the role of women in the home and workplace; how ideas, such as democracy, citizenship, liberty, patriotism, and equality have differently shaped the lives of women and men; and how women of different races and classes have experienced work, both inside and outside the home

The four courses follow a chronological order of history from the colonial period up to 2018. The courses are free, on-demand, and learners can explore them in any order.

• Seeking Women’s Rights: Colonial Period to the Civil War – Learn about the emergence of women’s history and its impact on the study of history as a whole, and examine the experiences of women in Colonial America.
• Wage Work for Women Citizens: 1870-1920 – Departing from the Civil War years, examine how gender shaped women’s work outside the home in the late 19th century, and uncover how the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments impacted women’s political participation.
• Negotiating a Changing World: 1920-1950 – Beginning with the passing of the 19th Amendment and on through World War II, explore the new cultural and economic opportunities that emerged for women in this period while gaining an understanding of how racial, familial, and legal structures placed constraints on that independence.
• Fighting for Equality: 1950–2018 – Examine how Cold War ideals impacted women’s trajectory towards independence and equality, and explore women’s roles in present-day social movements like #MeToo and the Fight for Fifteen.