10 Virginia sites to take your daughter to this Women’s History Month

Explore these 10 monuments, historic homes, and museums across Virginia that highlight the lives of significant female Virginians this Women’s History Month.

Women’s History Month is the perfect time for a fun and thoughtful day trip. As the weather starts to warm up, consider exploring the monuments, historic homes, and museums that spotlight the significant influence female Virginians have had on history.

From statues honoring trailblazers and historic homes tied to powerful first ladies to museums that preserve stories of activism, Virginia is chock full of sites that bring women’s contributions into focus. Here are our top 10 Virginia sites to take your daughter to this Women’s History Month.

Monuments

Across the Commonwealth, monuments create tangible places to reflect on the lives of the women who have shaped our history.

Henrietta Lacks Plaza

Location: 410 3^rd St. SW, Roanoke

The Henrietta Lacks Plaza in downtown Roanoke celebrates the legacy of Henrietta Lacks, a native of Roanoke who has contributed to modern scientific advancements in immeasurable ways following the 1951 taking of her cancerous cervical cells without consent.

Her cells, which were taken at Johns Hopkins Hospital, were used to create the first immortal human cell line. Significantly, her cells enabled major medical breakthroughs in genetics, polio and COVID-19 vaccines, and cancer treatments.

The plaza was renamed for Lacks, who was born in Roanoke in 1920, in 2021, where a statue of her stands surrounded by flowerbeds. Her grandson attended the ceremony in which her statue was unveiled. The plaza previously contained a monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E Lee.

Virginia Women’s Monument

Location: 1000 Bank St., Richmond

For a snapshot of the contributions women have made to the Commonwealth over the centuries, turn to the Virginia Women’s Monument.

It features seven life-sized bronze statues of the Pamunkey chieftain Cockacoeske, Jamestown colonist Anne Burras Laydon, frontierswoman Mary Draper Ingles (seamstress and close confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln), Elizabeth Keckly, textile entrepreneur Laura Copenhaver, educator Virginia Randolph, and artist and suffragist Adèle Clark. The monument can be found on Capitol Square.

Turning Point Suffragist Memorial

Location: 9751 Ox Rd., Lorton

Learn more about the women who were the driving force behind the suffragist movement from the mid-1800s up until the 1920 passage of the 19^th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, at the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial.

Look for the names of the suffragists who were jailed in 1917 on the Suffragist Commemorative Wall. The memorial also features statues of prominent suffragists, a rotunda with six pillars of democracy, a 24-foot section of the White House fence that suffragists picketed in front of in 1917, and an Arroyo Bridge.

Military Women’s Memorial

Location: 200 N. Glebe Rd., Ste. 400, Arlington

The Military Women’s Memorial honors the countless women who have courageously served the country. Surprisingly, it’s the only major national memorial of its kind. It can be found at the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery.

It includes a Court of Valor with a reflecting pool, an interactive computerized registry of female service members, and a fountain with 16 exhibit alcoves, which feature permanent and rotating exhibits.

Walker Memorial Plaza

Location: W. Broad St. & N. Adams St., Richmond

The Maggie L. Walker Memorial Plaza shines light on the legacy of Maggie L. Walker, a native of Richmond who is remembered as being an early example of African American female entrepreneurship. In 1903, she became the first Black woman to charter a bank in the U.S. when she launched St. Luke Penny Savings Bank.

The plaza, which was dedicated in 2017, features a 10-foot-tall bronze statue of Walker. It’s surrounded by 10 benches, each of which chronicles a moment from Walker’s life.

Historic homes

Visiting historic homes offers a glimpse into the daily lives of the women connected to some of the country’s early days.

Mount Vernon

Location: 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Hwy., Mount Vernon

Although Mount Vernon is most closely associated with George Washington, it was also home to the nation’s inaugural first lady, Martha Washington.

She moved to the plantation in 1759 following her marriage to George. Previously, she hadn’t traveled more than 40 miles from her childhood home in New Kent County.

One of her favorite things to do at Mount Vernon was serving tea to family and guests in the evenings. To learn more about Martha’s life at Mount Vernon, visitors can explore the mansion or museum, which is reopening in March after an extensive rebuild.

Montpelier

Location: 11350 Constitution Hwy., Montpelier Station

Learn more about another first lady by visiting Montpelier. Dolley Madison, wife to the fourth President James Madison, called the estate home off and on for many years.

Known as a political force in her own right, Dolley aided her husband’s political pursuits through her political savvy and hosting capabilities. She also left her mark on the look of the White House through furniture and décor.

Montpelier has a variety of exhibits and collections that touch on Dolley’s life and legacy.

Museums

Virginia’s museums deepen the stories of women through immersive exhibits and artifacts.

Robert Russa Moton Museum

Location: 900 Griffin Blvd., Farmville

Robert Russa Moton Museum spotlights Barbara Rose Johns Powell, who at the age of 16 led a protest to raise awareness about the poor conditions at Robert Russa Morton High School in 1951.

The effort succeeded in galvanizing support from the NAACP, which filed Davis v. Price Edward, one of the cases that was reviewed in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka by the U.S. Supreme Court. The case resulted in the finding that segregation was unconstitutional.

The site is a National Historic Landmark, recognized as the birthplace of the country’s student-led civil rights revolution.

Virginia Air & Space Science Center

Location: 600 Settlers Landing Rd., Hampton

Learn more about the contributions African American women made during the Space Race at the Virginia Air & Space Science Center.

“NASA Langley: The Story Behind the Science” focuses on the mathematicians or human computers, like Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Christine Darden, who were featured in the book and film “Hidden Figures.” The calculations provided by the women helped launch John Glenn into orbit and contributed to the eventual Apollo moon landing.

Virginia Museum of History & Culture

Location: 428 N Arthur Ashe Blvd., Richmond

The Virginia Museum of History & Culture isn’t just a place to learn about a single woman, but rather a place to learn about generations of women who have left their mark on Virginia history. Although the museum’s exhibits don’t focus exclusively on women, the stories of women are present throughout. Some of the narratives that emerge from the exhibits relate to voting rights, equal opportunities, and gender equality.

For example, the artifacts related to Phyllis Galanti chronicle her transformation from a mild-mannered Navy wife into a political activist who doggedly sought to bring attention to the prisoners of war in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War after her husband was detained at the “Hanoi Hilton.” Galanti artifacts include armbands, buttons, bracelets, photos, and magazines.

Information on exhibits related to women’s history in Virginia can be found here.