Where to celebrate Women’s History Month 2022 in NYC

March is Women’s History Month, an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of American women–and March 8 is International Women’s Day. The origins of the month-long celebration–and the suffrage movement itself, have their roots in New York City, and the city is a great place to learn more about the women who shaped the world as we know it. Top local arts and culture organizations are offering lectures, festivals, tours, and art exhibits in the five boroughs, all month long. More reason to celebrate and mark your calendar: Most hosts have returned to in-person events.

Schomburg Women’s Jazz Festival performers; photo courtesy of the New York Public Library.

Schomburg Center 30th Annual Women’s Jazz Festival
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is celebrating its 30th Annual Women’s Jazz Festival. The yearly celebration focuses on women of the African diaspora and their contributions to the many sounds of jazz. This year’s event will highlight the festival’s history with performances by Alicia Waller & the Excursion, Renée Neufville, Laurin Talese, Endea Owens, and past curators of the festival–including Melba Joyce and more. The in-person events that comprise the festival will take place on March 7, 8, 14, and 21 at 7 p.m. On March 8th (International Women’s Day) the programming is free and includes a talk with the curators and a performance presented by Jazzmobile.

The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum: Girls in Science and Engineering Day
The Intrepid Museum is bringing back the in-person event for the 8th annual Girls in Science & Engineering Day on Saturday, March 12, from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Expect hands-on experiences, exciting demonstrations and engaging discussions provided by Museum staff, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, students from Edward Murrow High School, Hudson River Park, NY-Historical Society, Girl Be Heard, and more. STEM from Dance will perform using LED props and wearable tech personally coded to support their themes of confidence, female empowerment, and joy. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and pilot Beverly Weintraub will lead a presentation and book signing of her book “The Wings of Gold: The Story of the First Women Naval Aviators.” The event is free with advance registration.

L-R, Rosena Hill Jackson, Barbara Rosene, Akua Allrich, Deborah Resto. Photo courtesy of Flushing Town Hall.

Flushing Town Hall Women’s History Month music series
Flushing Town Hall will celebrate Women’s History Month with a series that will offer unique performances celebrating iconic women of music history. The series will commemorate jazz, pop, and Latin music icons such as Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee, Nina Simone, Celia Cruz, and more. Also featured in the series are Broadway veteran Rosena Hill Jackson, jazz singers Akua Allrich and Barbara Rosene, and Latin soul singer Deborah Resto. You can find tickets and more information here.

NYC Parks celebrates Women’s History Month
Throughout the month of March, NYC Parks is celebrating the women who have contributed to our city and our parks. There will be free tours led by expert Urban Park Rangers, art exhibitions, museum tours and more with a spotlight on pioneering women who influenced our history, culture, and green spaces. Events include Historic Women of Central Park and a Women’s History Month Exhibition at Poe Park Visitor Center in the Bronx.

Women in History Book Collage: 31 Books for March. Photo courtesy of NYPL

Women in History Book Collage: 10 Titles by Women Writers on Women in History. Photo courtesy of NYPL

Women’s History Month at NYPL
In addition to a series of free events, the New York Public Library is celebrating Women’s History Month with a new female-focused reading recommendations list (Women Writers on Women in History and 31 Books by Women), a new self-guided tour of its Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures focused on women’s history, and a new member of its “Hall of Femme” honoring revolutionary women who shaped the library and changed the way people read, learn and access information.

Photo courtesy of the Locker Room.

“New York Women” Art Installation at The Locker Room and gallery show
New York City-based, femme-owned creative house The Locker Room will debut “New York Women,” a new art installation and gallery show featuring works created during an all-femme-identifying artist residency, on March 8. Curator and Locker Room founder Samara Bliss invited the resident creators to represent a diverse cross-section of New York women in a body of work that includes over 20 paintings, a photography exhibit, a full-length horror film, a fashion show, sculptures, and an album.

Once artworks are complete, the gallery will move from The Locker Room’s Brooklyn studio to a Manhattan loft space at 138 Mulberry Street, 3rd floor, where it will remain from March 8th – 29th. The gallery will be open to the public daily and will include after-dark events like DJs, fashion events, artist talks, film screenings, live performances from residency participant 2-CB, and more.

Women Who Made a Difference trolley tour at Woodlawn Cemetery
On March 27 at 12 p.m., tour Woodlawn’s verdant grounds and revisit the lives of women notables; visit the gravesites of the “Queen of Salsa” Celia Cruz, America’s first self-made female millionaire, Madam C.J. Walker, the “Queen of Happiness” Florence Mills, suffragists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Alva Vanderbilt Belmont, America’s first investigative reporter, Nellie Bly, Olympic Gold Medalist Gertrude Ederle, founder of Pepperidge Farm, Margaret Rudkin, poet, writer, critic and satirist, Dorothy Parker, and more.

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