– Flash Feminism & The Founding Mothers –
Do you know your ‘women’s herstory’?
In order to understand the profound impact women’s history has had on our policies, culture, and world, it is important to separate out the stories of women. Whether it’s spelled HERstory, her-story or herstory doesn’t really matter. What does matter is making visible the often unseen labor of m/others. Much of this herstory has remain hidden from mainstream textbooks and left out of the academic canons. view and only in the last seventy-five years of feminism have come to light. There are many wonderful books on the subject and contemporary resources and teaching materials available.
A Brief History of Laundry
MoM’s laundry collection includes multiple irons spanning one hundred years, antique water buckets, boilers, washboards, and other ephemera.
The Motherhood Movement
The Museum of Motherhood’s inception in 2003 manifested in the heat and fury of an emerging ‘Motherhood Movement’. Artists, academics and activists took up the mantle of maternal study joining together for festivals, conferences and agendas that reinvigorated notions of self-identified m/otherhood. During this time- and for the ten years preceding and the ten years ensuing- this timely topic was featured prominently in the airwaves, on televisions and even in film. It appeared as if the fourth wave of feminism was about to break new ground on this age-old subject. Now, in 2025 we look back on this heyday of this version of women’s empowerment and ask ourselves “what happened”? “How much really changed?” “Or, are we still fighting the same fights and regurgitating this nuanced discussion of what it means to mother?” The answer lies somewhere in between heady ideals and practical realities. See MoM’s herstory here and visit MoM in person to access more materials. [More from founder Martha Joy Rose].
Flash Feminism
We aim to articulate and discern the multiple waves of feminism, the fight for the freedoms we enjoy today, and the manner in which women’s struggles for equality have been challenged, and continue to be challenged, even in contemporary society. Below is an overly simplified, yet effective overview of the four U.S. feminist waves, for students of all ages! Scroll through the six slides below to get an idea of where we’ve been and where we hope to go in the journey towards equality for all.
M/otherhood in Motion
At MoM, our focus is primarily on the last 200 years of American Motherhood. Although we invite exhibitions from around the world, most of our collections are centered on women’s domestic labor. We trace the agricultural, industrial, and service economies as they developed throughout contemporary society tracing the threads of Western Culture as it has been informed by religious, moral, social, and cultural doctrine. Mostly, we are interested in exploring women and home and in society, with a special interest on the sociology of what we call the Founding Mothers, pictured below as part of our exhibition at USF (University of Southern Florida), Women’s and Gender Centennial of Women’s Right to Vote (2020-21).
100th Anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote
The University of Southern Florida (USF) Department of Women and Gender Studies presents The Founding Mothers: Women in Herstory in partnership with the Museum of Motherhood on campus in Tampa, Florida From March 5- September 15, 2020.
This exhibit celebrates 100 years of women’s vote in America and features items and artifacts from the MOM collection. The multi-media interactive experience encourages us to think critically about evolving family narratives and women’s place in society. This exhibit celebrates 100 years of women’s vote in America and features items and artifacts from the MOM Continue reading “USF Exhibit”
Activism
Women’s herstory is full of activist moments. These moments are further elucidated through the feminist/activist waves.
More Objects
When you visit the Museum of Motherhood see a glimpse of the past by learning about the Chamberlen forceps. From the 1600s on, this tool is still at work today – though it looks a little different. Find out about the sordid and secret history of this proprietory instrument [LINK]
Artist in Residence Hannah Brockbank on forceps, poetry and motherhood expectations. Read more here [LINK]
University & Student History Projects
This exhibition titled ‘Birth Practices Through the Ages’ was first installed in our Manhattan location 2011-2014. Panels describe some of the wild and weird traditions, superstitions and practices around pregnancy and childbirth around the world starting in the 10th century through the preceding century. Multiple interns and individuals have contributed to these panels and they have been reedited several times [LINK]