Katherine J. Brewster

Multiple generations of women talk about balancing family and career. They chose to work at home while raising a family, build a career before having children, or live happily without children.

A woman growing up in Washington, DC was outraged to learn that her parents could not vote. As an adult, she knows the right to vote cannot be taken for granted.

The history of American women's reproductive rights from Colonial times to the present. Social customs, legislation and court decisions have impacted American women’s right to control their own bodies. Abortion and contraception restrictions as well as involuntary sterilization have galvanized women to work towards reproductive justice.

A Chinese-American woman grew up in a community where immigration and citizenship were restricted by law. Those who could vote were too afraid of the government to register. Only the election of the first Asian-American to Congress gave them the confidence to exercise their right to vote.

The story of American women’s long and arduous fight for a voice in the laws and policies that affect their daily lives – from no vote in 1789 to the 19th amendment; Jim Crow to the 1965 Voting Rights Acts; 2013 Shelby v. Holder to voter suppression today.

Women talk about the consequences of having or not having access to effective birth control. Over the past 50 years, medical and social advances have given women more control over their reproductive health.

Three generations of Black women talk about their voting experiences. Growing up in the South under Jim Crow meant that voting was impossible or dangerous. After the Voting Rights Act in the 1960s, community services improved when Black candidates were elected. A young Black woman voting for the first time could vote for the first woman of color as Vice President.

Four generations of politically active women talk about voting and running for office. They grew up assuming that women belonged in government and everyone should exercise the right to vote.

A woman who grew up in Puerto Rico talks about the US government's campaign to sterlize women and test birth control pills without informed consent.

Women share their experiences having an abortion before and after it was legal. Some endured harmful, painful procedures; others were treated with respect in safe, clean medical offices.

The history of unequal pay ,from enslaved African-American women forced to work for no pay at all, to working women in the 1800s whose wages were the property of their husbands and fathers. Over 50 years later, we have yet to realize equal pay for equal work, and women — athletes to actors to executives — continue the fight.