Dear Friend,

Although women represent half the population, countless stories of women leaders are going untold.

Without them, we cannot truly know our history. And we lose a singularly powerful opportunity to inspire the women and young girls who are the innovators, artists, activists, entrepreneurs, and everyday heroes of today, and who will shape our future.

During this centennial year of women’s suffrage and the passage of the 19th Amendment, the National Trust is committed to spotlighting places—well-known, lesser-known, and especially un-known—where women’s history happened…uncovering their stories, uplifting their lessons, and unlocking their potential to spark courage and insight for this generation and those to come.

For instance, have you heard the story of Justina Ford, Colorado’s first female African American doctor, who fought the odds to get her medical license, only to be barred from practicing in a hospital because she was Black? Resolute, she set up a clinic in her two-story house and brought healing to thousands of Denver’s poor and immigrant population who were locked out of the medical system due to poverty, citizenship, language barriers, and skin color. They paid her in food, household items, whatever they could offer, and she delivered, by her own count, some 7,000 babies over her 50-year career. The Colorado and American Medical Associations finally bestowed the long-overdue professional recognition she deserved in 1950.

Dr. Ford’s story lives on in the Black American West Museum & Heritage Center, which last year was one of 13 sites to share $2 million in grant funding and a national media spotlight thanks to the National Trust’s Partners in Preservation grant program with American Express.

Now more than ever, the thousands of places like this one nationwide are essential reminders of the moving legacy of bravery and vision you help to elevate and preserve through your support.

From Dr. Ford’s home to the stunning Women's Building in San Francisco's Mission District providing critical services to women and children to the studio of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney—sculptor and patron of women in the arts—your support is raising up the voices, places, stories, and contributions of all women, creating a more just and equitable America.

Is there any more meaningful way to celebrate women’s history in this pivotal moment and to ensure that women’s stories remain at the forefront of history for decades to come? 

Please join the National Trust today.

Your partnership will help us continue providing honest appraisals of our past and telling the full American story…one that does greater justice to the essential role of women in shaping our nation and moving us all closer to America’s highest ideals and aspirations.

Christina Morris Campaign Manager, Where Women Made History

P.S. Give today, in honor of women’s history, to help preserve the places where women raised their voices, took their stands, and found the courage to make a difference.