Our Path to Education: The American Association of University Women Online Museum

Right now in the United States, women make up 57% of enrolled undergraduate college students.  Feminists and other advocates for women's education rightly applaud this achievement, but how did it come to be less than a century after women received the right to vote?  You can find some answers to this question at the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Online Museum.

The AAUW, which was founded in 1881, works to provide equity for women in all areas of life, especially education.  Their actions during the past 130 years are spelled out in great detail in Our History, interspersed with many good-quality images.  There's a lot of good information in this section, but the way it's presented - as a series of timelines to scroll through - is not the most appealing.

Three other sections - Advocacy and Action; Scholarship and Support; and Research and Publications - also speak to the organization's history and are presented in similar formats (though Research and Publications goes beyond this static layout by letting you download some of AAUW's early, out-of-print literature).  Combining these galleries with the Our History section to make one all-encompassing interactive exhibit would make for a much more comprehensive and interesting historical portrait.

There's also the Portrait Gallery of famous AAUW members and the Outlook Gallery, which features images of past issues of the organization's journal.  The Portrait Gallery is worth checking out to see who has been a member of AAUW, but I wish there was more information on these women's accomplishments.  The Outlook Gallery isn't very helpful at all because it only shows AAUW Outlook covers.  It would be much more useful to be able to look inside the magazine, or at least read some of the articles.

By far the most interesting section in the museum is the Buildings Gallery, which showcases the past and present headquarters of the AAUW.  You can view artifacts and images of different rooms in these buildings, and you can even take a Flash tour of the organization's first headquarters.

This last exhibit is the kind of presentation that would most benefit the wealth of information presented here.  There's so much history and literature contained in the AAUW's existence that it needs to be synthesized and presented in an engaging way that's more accessible and less like a textbook.  I have high hopes that this organization, which has thrived for well over a century, can spruce up its virtual museum and become more visitor-friendly.


The American Association of University Women Online Museum
Mission:  Through the AAUW Online Museum, AAUW is pleased to share our rich history as a leader in promoting equity for women and girls for more than 125 years.
Website:  svc.aauw.org/museum