Online Exhibition Explores the Stories of More Than 30 Women and How They Changed the Course of Women’s Financial Independence
The Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum announced the expansion of “We Do Declare: Women’s Voices on Independence,” a multi-year oral history project that began in 2024 in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The complete set of oral histories will debut online March 1 as part of the museum’s Women’s History Month programming and in celebration of America’s 250th.
The project documents the history of women’s financial independence in the United States through firsthand accounts from women across generations and professional fields. Drawing on more than three dozen interviews, it examines how women’s access to credit, financial services and economic opportunity have developed over the past several decades and the central role women have played in influencing these changes.
“We Do Declare” is led by Rachel Seidman, historian and curator for the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum. The project’s digital resources will include interview excerpts, curator essays and public programs, such as a Wikipedia edit-a-thon highlighting women who helped change laws, contributed new research, created new networks and, ultimately, bolstered economic independence for women.
Before the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974, many women were unable to obtain credit in their own names. The law—which made it illegal for banks to discriminate against women applying for credit cards based on their sex or marital status—fundamentally changed women’s ability to access credit and shifted their relationship to the banking industry. “We Do Declare” places that period in historical context and traces the developments that followed through interviews with women who worked in finance, government, business, labor and community organizations.
The project will showcase the stories of trailblazers, including Jacki Zehner, founder of SheMoney and the youngest woman and first female trader to be made a Goldman Sachs partner; Karen Nussbaum, former director of the United States Women’s Bureau and co-founder of 9to5, which inspired the 1980 film by the same name; Claudia Goldin, the Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University and Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences (2023); La June Montgomery Tabron, president and CEO of W.K. Kellogg Foundation, among others.
“‘We Do Declare’ honors the women who insisted on economic agency and, in doing so, expanded what independence could look like for all Americans,” said Melanie Adams, interim director of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum. “This important addition to our nation’s history is a key part of the museum’s mission to highlight the overlooked and untold stories of women from all walks of life who have moved our country forward.”
“Oral histories allow us to capture not just what changed, but how it felt to live through those changes,” Seidman said. “The women featured in ‘We Do Declare’ describe the persistence, creativity and collective action required to claim financial agency—and how those efforts have reshaped laws, institutions and economic opportunities in America. I hope these stories inspire the next generation to continue to learn about the women who have shaped America and worked tirelessly for a better future for all.”
The initiative also reflects the museum’s broader commitment to collaborative, digital-first engagement as it builds toward opening its permanent home on the National Mall. Visit the museum’s website for more information.
About the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum
The Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum expands the story of America through the often-untold accounts and accomplishments of women—individually and collectively—to better understand our past and inspire our future. Through new scholarship and innovative exhibitions and online experiences, storytelling and participation, the museum inspires the next generation. The legislation creating the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum passed Dec. 27, 2020, and the museum is working with Congress to finalize a site for the physical building on the National Mall, even as it continues to advance history education and scholarship.