Learn Philadelphia’s history of through the women of the city, from colonial times to modern times. Hear the stories of inspiring women, such as Hannah Callowhill Penn, Pennsylvania’s forgotten founder, Peggy Shippen, the highest-paid spy during the American revolution, Oney Judge, the enslave woman who escaped George Washington’s house, and Caroline Lecount, the African-American activist. Get a better understanding of how women shaped different aspects of the city lives, including prostitution, medicine, education, and activism. Read more...

Walk the streets of Philadelphia’s Gayborhood and discover the history the only formalized gay village in the United States. Hear the stories of LGTBQ activists, such as Barbara Gittings and Gloria Casarez, and understand the struggles they faced and the racism they suffered from. Cruise the Rittenhouse, visit the country’s longest operating queer bookstore and hop from one gay bar to another. Read more...

Explore femininity as reflected in the arts, on the canvas and behind it. View how Shady Ladies’ themes – beauty, fashion and power – chanced throughout the years and get a closer look on individual women who left their mark on society via art, including mistreated prostitutes, mistresses and courtesans who made it to the top, and artists like Mary Cassatt who changed the perspective of how women really live. Read more...