Women's History

36 Locations | Curated by Cincinnati Sites and Stories

Women from the Cincinnati Region have been trailblazers in many careers, movements, and fields of study for as long as people have been settled here.

Our region has been shaped by the work, efforts and lives of women. This tour tells the stories of these trailblazers.

Jane Irwin Findlay was one of the earliest settlers of Cincinnati. She was active in both early Cincinnati and Washington societies, accompanying her statesman husband General James Findlay during his terms in Congress. During the short presidency of William Henry Harrison, Jane, along with her niece Jane Harrison, fulfilled some of the duties of First Lady
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Emilie Watts McVea was a highly respected educator and women’s rights advocate. She was a professor at universities and later president at Sweet Briar College from 1916 to 1925. She strongly believed in teaching and mentoring women and that there would be a time that demanded rigorous training of women. McVae also believed women should be able to attack the root causes of the social and economic…
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Peace activist and pioneering psychologist Doris Twitchell Allen planted the seeds of a worldwide peace organization in Glendale Ohio. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and was later nominated for the United States Freedom Medal, the Hague Appeal for Peace Prize, and the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education.
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King Records was one of the independent recording studios that created Rock and Roll, and it was one of the city’s only racially integrated businesses. Songs by male artists like Hank Ballard, Little Willie John, Wynonie Harris, and the Delmore Brothers are well-known, but few people know that many women artists in genres like country and rhythm and blues that combined to create rock and roll…
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An important Black voice in Cincinnati during the first half of the 20th century, Helen Walker King (1898-1957) was a soprano soloist, public school teacher, and advocate of choral concerts to celebrate African American music making. Highly regarded as “Cincinnati’s Soloist,” she performed frequently throughout the city. During a time of segregation, she created singing opportunities for Black…
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The Delmoor Flats, built in 1898, was one of a new type of multi-family dwelling. “Flats” included spacious units with grand lobbies, servants’ quarters, and other shared amenities. The name “flats” set them apart from tenements, the more common form of multi-family dwellings. These flats were the ideal place for professional women to live and work free from domestic drudgery and the demands of…
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Long-time Avondale Resident Dr. Miriam Urban spent four decades as a pioneering woman faculty member in the Department of History at the University of Cincinnati. Originally from Piqua, Urban’s large family moved to Cincinnati in the early twentieth century. They first settled on Forest Avenue, and later moved to a spacious Colonial Revival home on Avonale’s Burton Avenue.
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“Possibly no woman who has ever lived in Cincinnati has been so active in so many interests of the very life of the city as has Miss Annie Laws.” There is no exaggeration in this quote from Mary MacMillan. Annie Laws dedicated herself to the expansion of healthcare and education for all Cincinnatians, creating kindergartens, nursing, and teaching schools. Several institutions still operating in…
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Often overshadowed by her more famous sister, Adelaide Nourse Pitman was an accomplished artist and craftswoman in her own right. Her work was featured at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and could be found in many homes around Cincinnati. Her own home on Columbia Parkway is perhaps the most complete collection of her work.
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In 1843 Cincinnati teenager Mary Jane Irwin kept a journal that has survived 180 years. Irwin’s personal descriptions are a window into early Cincinnati detailing society and historical events. She witnessed the 1843 Great Comet pass over the city, the inception of the Cincinnati Observatory and left a first-hand account of John Quincy Adams' laying of its cornerstone.
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Cora Dow was a pioneering figure in the world of American pharmacies, breaking barriers and shaping the landscape of pharmaceutical practice and business. Dow's remarkable journey as a pharmacist not only marked her as a trailblazer in a male-dominated field but also highlighted her unwavering commitment to building a strong Cincinnati company.
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Heiress to the Fleischmann Yeast Company fortune, Bettie Fleischmann-Holmes left Cincinnati in 1927. Yet her legacy has left a physical & cultural impact on the Queen City nearly one-hundred years later. Her family’s various estates have had lasting impacts on the neighborhood of Avondale, while the various institutions she headed and supported continue to thrive throughout Cincinnati.
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In the male dominated art scene of late 19th- and early 20th-centuries, Dixie Selden made her mark. Her work took her around the world, from Cincinnati to China, blazing a trail for many women to follow. Selden’s talent is still celebrated in her hometown of Cincinnati and beyond.
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In 1870, the primary occupation listed for both the Black majority and the white minority of both women and men were the same: most women were listed as “Keeping House” and men as “Daily Laborers.” This post will examine the data on women on Lincoln Avenue in 1870; more will follow on other…
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The oldest of three children, Lucy Orintha Oxley was born in 1912 to highly educated parents. Her mother, Esther (Turner) Oxley, was a teacher and an alumna of the Howard University Teachers’ College, who had done post-graduate work at the Ypsilanti College and at Cornell University. Edmund, her…
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This story takes place in Covington's Holmes High School, the oldest public high school in Kentucky. In October 1969, Principal Richard Williams suspended 10th grader Joyce Moore, age 17 at the time. Not liking Joyce’s "Afro coiffure," he sent her home “until she took her hair…
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Elizabeth Stewart was instrumental in securing the Allied victory during the Second World War. As a member of the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) military unit, she worked to decipher enemy naval codes. After the war, Elizabeth continued her work in mathematics, computers, and architecture.
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