National Portrait Gallery Presents “Her Story: A Century of Women Writers”

Featuring 24 of America’s Most Influential Women Writers From the Portrait Gallery’s Collection

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery will feature 24 of America’s most prominent and influential women writers in the upcoming exhibition “Her Story: A Century of Women Writers.” The selection of photographs, works on paper, paintings and sculpture weaves through 100 years of American history and literary achievement. “Her Story” is one of 11 Portrait Gallery exhibitions focused on highlighting the historical and cultural contributions of women that the museum is presenting between 2018 and 2022. The exhibition will be on view at the Portrait Gallery Sept. 18 through Jan. 18, 2021, and is part of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative, “Because of Her Story.” “Her Story: A Century of Women Writers” is curated from the museum’s collection by Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, the Portrait Gallery’s senior historian and director of history, research and scholarly programs. A virtual press tour with Shaw will be held over Zoom Sept. 25 from 10 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. ET. RSVP to kellyb@si.edu. 

Portraits of Pulitzer Prize winners Toni Morrison, Anne Tyler and Maya Angelou will be displayed alongside those of fellow literary icons Susan Sontag, Marilynne Robinson and Joyce Carol Oates, among others. Visitors will encounter the faces of the extraordinary minds who penned such well-known titles as Goodnight Moon, A Raisin in the Sun and The Color Purple. The exhibition will also highlight Sandra Cisneros, the first Latina to become a MacArthur Fellow and the author of The House on Mango Street (1984), which has become required reading for public schools across the country, and Gwendolyn Brooks, the first African American writer to win a Pulitzer (for Annie Allen, 1950) and the first Black woman elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters. 

“The work of these women has changed the way that we understand American literature,” Shaw said. “They have worked in many different modes, from poetry to prose, fiction and criticism. Their works have been written for stage and screen and adapted for those formats. Many of these writers are familiar names, while others will be new to many of our visitors. We hope that this exhibition will encourage people to dive deeper into the production of these writers, to revisit favorite books and read new ones.”

Collectively, the sitters selected for “Her Story: A Century of Women Writers” represent the receipt of every major literary prize of the 20th century. The likenesses include poets, novelists and memoirists whose writings shed light on a diverse number of American experiences. The sitters’ writings span themes from the injustices faced by African American families amid the civil rights movement and hardships endured by first- and second-generation immigrants, to women finding their voice in a male-dominated society and the realities of individuals who struggle with depression and mental health. The exhibition will point to the work of prominent photographers including David Attie, Brigitte Lacombe, Deborah Feingold, Arnold Newman and Alec Soth and other artists.