Observed throughout the United States since the 1980s, Women’s History Month is a time to honor and celebrate the impact women have made on society. Here, we have provided a listing of stories, exhibits, events and reading resources that highlight extraordinary women in history and the present.

Campus Events 

Thursday, March 7, 7:30 p.m.—Livestream Talk by UT Astronomy Professor Dr. Stella Offner
Associate Professor of Astronomy Dr. Stella Offner will co-host McDonald Observatory’s livestream, discussing her research and how she uses AI to learn more about stellar formation. Go here to watch the livestream. This event will be recorded and published on the McDonald Observatory YouTube channel. 

Friday, March 8—Feminist Friday
The Women’s Community Center is hosting a Feminist Friday event celebrating International Women’s Day at the William C. Powers Building (WCP 2.112), 1-2 p.m. Visit the Women’s Community Center’s Instagram channel for more information.

Friday, March 22, 8:30 p.m.—Hot Science – Cool Talks! 
Explore the universe with Associate Professor of Astronomy Dr. Caitlin Casey, who will discuss “Discoveries from the James Webb Telescope.” Casey studies galaxy formation and evolution, from the earliest times after the Big Bang to the present day and is one of the principal investigators of COSMOS and COSMOS-Web Surveys, large-area surveys designed to take a census of rare systems in the early Universe. Go here to learn more. 

Wednesday, March 27—University-Wide Women’s History Month Celebration
The Division of Campus and Community Engagement is hosting its inaugural Women’s History Month Celebration themed “She Starts Here Then Changes the World: UT Women Past, Present, Future.” It’s happening at the Main Mall, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Exhibitions by Women Artists

On View Through June 30— ‘Anni Albers: In Thread and On Paper’

Anni Albers (1899–1994) is considered the most important textile artist of the 20th century. Known for her wall hangings, weavings and designs, she was also an innovative educator and printmaker.  Anni Albers: In Thread and On Paper highlights how nimbly Albers moved between mediums—including her shift from weaving to printmaking in the 1960s—and transitioned between making art and designing functional and commercial objects. Read more.

On View Through July 14—Public Works: Art by Elizabeth Olds

Explore the under-told story of Elizabeth Olds (1896–1991), an innovative artist who worked to bring art into the daily lives of more Americans. The first woman to receive the Guggenheim Fellowship for visual arts, Olds became a vital force in the Works Progress Administration and later a celebrated children’s book author-illustrator. Read more.

On View From March 2-October 20—Marie Watt: ‘Sky Dances Light’

Seneca artist Marie Watt uses humble materials to explore history, community and storytelling through the legacies of Indigenous teachings. Watt’s immersive installation at the Blanton features new and recent sculptural works from her “Sky Dances Light” series. Read more. Curator Hannah Klemm will give a Curator’s Choice Tour of Watt’s exhibition at a Second Saturday event on Saturday, March 9, at 4 p.m. Go here for ticket information.

On View Through March 31— ‘Unbreakable: Feminist Visions from the Gilberto Cárdenas and Dolores Garcia Collection’

“Unbreakable” presents artworks with an emphasis on Latina and Chicana artists and their stories of survival and resilience. Selected from the landmark Gilberto Cárdenas and Dolores Garcia Collection, these works explore a major theme shaping the couple’s distinctive collecting practice: art with a feminist framework. Read more.

Community Outreach 

STEM Girl Day at UT

On Saturday, February 24, thousands of K-8 students flooded the UT Austin campus for a day of fun-filled science experiments, interactive activities and exploration at the annual STEM Girl Day at UT Austin event hosted by Women in STEM. View the photos.

UT Women Making History

Law Student Recognized for Work with Formerly Incarcerated People of Color

Texas Law student Sondos Moursy was named a 2023 Marshall-Motley Scholar by the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund for her work championing economic opportunities for formerly incarcerated people of color. The scholarship program honors the contributions of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley, an iconic civil rights litigator and the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge.  Read more. 

New Books by University of Texas Press

‘Breaking the Gender Code’

From the closing years of the 19th century, women received subtle—and not so subtle—messages that they shouldn’t be in public. Or, if they were, that they were not safe. “Breaking the Gender Code” tells the story of both this danger narrative and the resistance to it. Read more.

‘Unheard Witness’

In 1966, Kathy Leissner Whitman was a 23-year-old teacher dreaming of a better future. She was an avid writer of letters, composing hundreds in the years before she was stabbed to death by her husband, Charles Whitman, who went on to commit a mass shooting from the Tower at The University of Texas at Austin. Read more.

‘Why Willie Mae Thornton Matters’

Born in Alabama in 1926, raised in the church, appropriated by white performers, buried in an indigent’s grave—Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton’s life events epitomize the blues—but Lynnée Denise pushes past the stereotypes to read Thornton’s life through a Black, queer, feminist lens and reveal an artist who was an innovator across her four-decade-long career. Read more.

Reading and Listening Resources

Download the New ‘Overcoming’ Audiobook 

Download a free copy of the new audio adaptation of “Overcoming,” a book penned by a beloved figure in UT history: Almetris Marsh Duren. Narrated by members of the Precursors, staff and alumni, the chapters cover various challenges and triumphs faced by African Americans on the Forty Acres.

Listen to Women’s History Lessons

The Department of History’s Not Even Past website offers a wealth of learning and teaching materials covering a range of topics—from women’s suffrage to contraception rights to important figures in women’s history.

Visit the Ana Sisnett Library

Housed within the Women’s Community Center (WCP 2.112), the Ana Sisnett Library features an array of reading materials—genre fiction, nonfiction, magazines, etc.—that honor and celebrate women and all their intersecting identities. Ana Sisnett was a celebrated author, educator, artist and UT alum. Learn more about her legacy in this Austin Chronicle article: “Ana Sisnett 1952-2009.”