Wikipedia:WikiProject Women's History

Welcome to WikiProject Women's History, a collaboration area for Wikipedians interested in improving coverage of women's history. The project's primary purpose is to provide support for members and any other editors in improving Wikipedia's coverage of women from a historical perspective. New members are always welcome! Just add your name to our participants list. You might also want to join one of our task forces. The project currently has two: Women in World War I and Women in technology.

Scope
Although we recognize that the definition of women's history as an academic field of study can be flexible and even problematic, this project focuses on: A major goal of WikiProject Women's History is to incorporate the perspective of women's history in overview articles of historical periods or pre-1950 events which may currently lack such coverage. A history article (such as American Old West) should be included in this project if reliable sources exist for improving the coverage of women throughout or in a section that focuses on the experiences and contributions of women.
 * the lives, activities, achievements, and experiences of women up to the mid-20th century
 * ongoing social and cultural movements and issues that affect women into the present but have historical precedents and origins
 * contemporary women as agents of historic change

Topics of interest primarily because they reflect perceptions or views of women and their prescribed roles, as well as articles on current events without a verifiable historical dimension or on contemporary popular culture, may be more aptly covered by WikiProject Gender Studies, WikiProject Feminism, or other projects. WikiProject Women's History is not "WikiProject Women" or "WikiProject Women's Studies".

Criteria for inclusion
Below are more detailed criteria for including various types of articles under this project's banner. When in doubt, join us for a discussion. (For more on how these criteria were drafted and consensus on them was reached, see Women's History Scope Workshop.)

A biography that has met the notability requirements outlined at WP:BIO may be included within this project if it meets one of the following criteria.
 * The biography of a woman born before 1900 is generally within the scope of this project.
 * The biography of a woman born between 1900 and 1950 is within the scope of this project if reliable sources discuss her life or career in the context of women's history or as contributing to significant societal or cultural change.
 * The biography of a woman born after 1950 may be included only if she has exceptional and verifiable historic significance. Spheres of notable activity include but are not limited to: politics and society, law, an art form, the military, labor, education, health, commerce or consumer protection, humanitarianism, sports, or science and technology. "Exceptional significance" should be demonstrated on the article's talk page by a clear and reliably sourced statement of what the person did or achieved that made a lasting contribution to the world.
 * In deciding whether a woman born after 1950 should be included by this project, consider that a "lasting contribution" is not fame; the winning of an award; statistical popularity (such as sales); or record-setting, unless a "first" results in a societal or cultural change. Examples:
 * An invention is considered a lasting contribution; a famous haircut is not.
 * Breaking a barrier to women's participation in sports is a lasting contribution; winning a gold medal is a personal achievement that in and of itself causes no necessary change beyond the individual's life.
 * Winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress is not a lasting achievement, nor is winning a Nobel Prize; however, the kind of work for which a Nobel Prize is won by definition represents a major advance in the field, and qualifies the laureate for inclusion.
 * The biography of a man may be included within the scope of this project under the same guidelines, if his role in women's history is a major aspect of his notability, as indicated by reliable sources. For instance, Henry Browne Blackwell, the husband of Lucy Stone, was an activist for women's rights.
 * The biography of any scholar who has met the notability requirements of WP:ACADEMIC may be included by this project if women's history is a major emphasis of the scholar's body of work. Example: Ann D. Gordon, leader of The Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Papers Project at Rutgers University.

"Works of art" will include literature, performing arts, and visual arts. A work of art, regardless of the gender of its creator, may be included if it is discussed in existing scholarship as contributing to women's history, even if the current version of the article lacks coverage of this aspect. Works of art under this project's banner should show how women lived, what they did, or what they experienced. A work of art that is of interest because it shows attitudes toward women, or how women were viewed, may be covered more aptly by WikiProject Gender Studies or WikiProject Feminism.
 * A work of art created after the mid-20th century should not be included unless its subject matter deals with women in a historical setting. For example, a notable play about the women's suffrage movement may be appropriate for inclusion, as is Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party.
 * A post-1970 work of historical fiction dealing with women should be included only if it has received significant coverage for its treatment of women's history as such.
 * A movie intended to offer a perspective on women's history may be included, if reliable sources discuss its significance. Examples: Iron Jawed Angels (2004); Frida (2002). A costume drama that uses the past primarily for aesthetic or allegorical purposes, such as Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette or Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge!, lies outside the scope of this project.

Mythological, legendary, or fictional characters may be included in this project only if they have a high degree of significance for the understanding of women's history, as indicated by existing scholarship. The character's article should provide perspectives on the lives of real women and their activities, as interpreted by scholars. A character who is of interest because she embodies attitudes toward women may be covered more aptly by WikiProject:Gender Studies or WikiProject Feminism.
 * A fictional character created after 1970 should be included only if the work of art in which she appears meets the criteria for inclusion outlined above, and if her own exceptional significance to women's history is discussed by reliable sources.
 * A deity should be included only if the religious practice of women was a distinctive feature of her following.
 * A legendary figure, such as Lucretia or Rosie the Riveter, who was considered (quasi-)historical within her own culture may be included following the criteria outlined under Biographies above.

Articles on movements (such as suffrage campaigns), issues (abortion rights), or broad topics such as "women's rights" typically have a historical component and should therefore be included.
 * A single event occurring after 1970 and within a relatively short or limited span of time may be included by this project only if reliable sources have discussed its importance to women's history in general.

Organizations formed by or for women before or during the mid-20th century generally are included within this project, as well as those in which women played an important role, especially if coverage of women in the current article is underdeveloped. The organization may exist up to the present, or may be defunct. Examples include professional organizations, trade unions, voluntary associations such as humanitarian or aid groups, women's rights groups, women's clubs, religious orders, educational institutions, military units, and other social or political groups.
 * A pre-1970 art movement, literary society, musical ensemble, performing arts group, or arts patronage organization in which women played a founding, predominant, or fundamental role may be included.
 * Organizations or groups formed after 1970 for the purpose of studying, promoting, or reenacting women's history may be included.

Contemporary culture (1970 to present) generally lies outside the scope of this project. An overview article on topics such as fashion, health, sport, sexuality, or other cultural practices may be included in this project only if it meets one of the following criteria:
 * incorporates a perspective of women's history throughout;
 * contains a historical section that demonstrates the significance of the topic to women's history;
 * currently lacks the perspective of women's history, but reliable sources indicate that the article is therefore incomplete, non-neutral, or unbalanced.

Events

 * New Jersey Women's History @ Rowan University April 6, 2018
 * Edit-a-thon/Women Warriors in Times of War Edit-a-thon 2018 Tennessee State University- March 30, 2018
 * Meetup/Women in Science Edit-a-thon 2016 - Oklahoma University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma - October 11, 2016
 * Indigenous Women Edit-a-thon Algoma University, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada - June 20, 2016
 * Edit-a-thon/Women's History Month Edit-a-thon Tennessee State University, Tennessee – March 25, 2016
 * Medieval Women Editathon, Swansea, Wales – January 28, 2015
 * 2014 Bangalore Edit-a-thon on Indian women in science
 * 2014 Berkshire Conference on the History of Women Edit-a-thon - Toronto – May 24, 2014
 * Women in Jewish History Editathon 2014 – New York City
 * Meetup/Ada Lovelace Edit-a-thon 2013 - Brown
 * Meetup/Ada Lovelace Edit-a-thon 2013 - Brussels
 * Meetup/Ada Lovelace Edit-a-thon - Harvard (2012)

How you can help

 * Improve Top importance articles: Women in the Middle Ages, Women in the Victorian era
 * Expand stubs: See this list of Women's History stubs
 * Update: Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000
 * Assess: The articles on this list need assessment for quality and importance using the WikiProject Women's History guidelines
 * Create a requested article: See Requested Women's History articles for the complete list or to request a new article.
 * Add a requested image: None
 * Translate: Articles needing translation can be found at Requested translations, where you can also add new translation requests.
 * Monitor: Keep an eye on our article alerts page and on recent changes to the talk pages of Women's History articles.
 * Cleanup: The Cleanup listing for WikiProject Women's History includes both challenging and easy tasks, like adding wikilinks, de-orphaning.
 * Repair dead links: Many dead external links can be fixed by searching the link at the Wayback Machine and replacing the dead link with an archived version.
 * Banner: Add WMNHIST to the talk pages of new (or newly found) articles if they fall with the scope of WikiProject Women's History.

Project statistics
This list is bot-generated periodically; recent changes may not appear.

Related WikiProjects

 * WikiProject Feminism
 * WikiProject Gender Studies
 * WikiProject History
 * WikiProject Women artists
 * WikiProject Women scientists
 * Wikiproject Women writers
 * WikiProject Women's sport
 * WikiProject Football/Women's football task force
 * WikiProject National Basketball Association/WNBA task force


 * WikiWomen's History Month

Categories
The following Categories are potentially of interest to this project, although not all of their articles may be within the project's scope.

School and university projects
If you are using Wikipedia as an educational assignment, and your students will be writing or editing articles related to women's history, do drop us a note at our project's talk page.

There are many resources available to support such projects including:
 * Ambassadors
 * WikiProject Classroom coordination
 * School and university projects

Useful tools:
 * The Educational assignment tag can be used to mark an article as being/having been part of an assignment by placing the following at the top of the article's talk page:   Be sure to click "Publish changes" afterwards. There are further options for the template such as adding the date the assignment will end or a link to your project's write-up at School and university projects, if you have one. There's more information at Template:EducationalAssignment.
 * The Article wizard helps you through the process of submitting a new article to Wikipedia. There are 6 sections to step through, then you'll be taken to the editing page. As each section is completed, the next becomes available.

See also:
 * Dispatches: Featured content from schools and universities, The Wikipedia Signpost, May, 9. 2008
 * WikiProject Murder Madness and Mayhem for an excellent example of classroom/Wikipedia cooperation, aided by experienced editors, but it did not generate any articles about women or works by women, etc.
 * WikiProject Global Economics for an example of what not to do

Recognized content

 * For a complete list of Recognized content bannered by this project see WikiProject Women's History Recognized content. The page is regularly updated by a bot and includes:
 * Featured articles
 * Former featured articles
 * Featured lists
 * Former featured lists
 * Good articles
 * Former good articles
 * Did you know? articles
 * In the News articles


 * The Featured Articles in the hand-maintained list below are relevant to our project, but do not necessarily carry the WikiProject Women's History banner.


 * Biographies
 * Alexandra of Denmark
 * Alice Ayres
 * Anna Anderson
 * Anne of Denmark
 * Anne Frank
 * Anne Hutchinson
 * Aspasia
 * Elizabeth I of England
 * Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
 * Emily Dickinson
 * Emma Goldman
 * Emmeline Pankhurst
 * Fanny Imlay
 * Harriet Arbuthnot
 * Harriet Tubman
 * Ima Hogg
 * Joan of Arc
 * Lisa del Giocondo
 * Margaret Fuller
 * Marjory Stoneman Douglas
 * Mary II of England
 * Mary Toft
 * Mary Wollstonecraft
 * Pat Nixon
 * Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
 * Samantha Smith
 * Ursula Franklin
 * Wallis, Duchess of Windsor
 * Historical topics
 * Alpha Kappa Alpha
 * A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
 * Biddenden Maids
 * Concerto delle donne
 * Girl Scouts of the USA
 * I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
 * Lessons for Children
 * Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman
 * Nancy Drew (fictional character)
 * Pendle witches
 * Portrait of a Lady (van der Weyden)
 * Samlesbury witches
 * Thoughts on the Education of Daughters
 * Whitechapel murders
 * Wife selling (English custom)

Prominent women in need of peer-evaluation upgrade

 * Sandra Day O'Connor
 * Ruth Bader Ginsburg (upgrade from GA to FA)
 * Sonia Sotomayor (upgrade from GA to FA)
 * Elena Kagan (upgrade from GA to FA)
 * Heloise (the abbess; needs primary redirect from Heloise)

Project
WikiProject Women's History User WMNHIST