Best Places For Women's History In Sacramento

According to the National Women's History Project, the great state of California was the first to honor a Women's History Week in 1978, nearly a decade before the nation adopted March as National Women's History Month. California remains a champion of women's history and Sacramento is home to some the nation's greatest places to celebrate Women's History Month.

Price: Adults $8.50, Seniors (65+) and College students $7, Youths $6, children five and under are free
Hours: Mon to Sat - 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sun - 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Inspired by Maria Shriver, the former First Lady of California, the California's Remarkable Women Exhibit at the California Museum highlights more than 200 diverse women who served the Golden State. Women from all walks of life are profiled and celebrated in this exhibit. From former astronaut Sally Ride to farm labor activist Dolores Huerta -- who along with Cesar Chavez founded the National Farmworkers Association -- the exhibit strives to keep these women's legacies alive. Last October the museum added a segment to the exhibit that celebrates the hard work and sacrifices made by "suffragettes" in their struggle to gain the right to vote before the 19th Amendment passed in 1920. California officially gave women the right to vote nine years earlier in 1911. The exhibit will come to an end in December 2012, so be sure to catch it before it's gone.

Related: Best Sacramento Museums

Crocker Art Museum
216 O St.
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 808-7000
Prices: Adults - $10 Seniors and college students - $8.00
Youth $5.00, six and under are free.
crockerartmuseum.org
Dates: March 3 - May 13, 2012
Hours: Tue to Sun- 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Thurs - 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Come get a chance to view works from one of the most inventive figures in contemporary American art. Judy Chicago is a feminist artist whose works examine the role of women in history and culture. Chicago uses stereotypical traits found in women's artwork, such as needlework, and counters them with welding and pyrotechnics. The use of more traditionally more male dominated skills allows Chicago to create a blend of contradictory artwork that is truly unique.

We Won the Vote! at the California State Capitol Museum
State Capitol Building
10th and L Streets, Room 105
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 324-0333
Admission: Free
capitolmuseum.ca.gov
Hours: Daily - 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Tours - 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

We Won the Vote! 100 Years of Equal Suffrage in California is being exhibited in the Capitol Museum. This testament to women's suffrage will be displayed in room 105 inside the Capitol. Visit the exhibit, take a tour of the California State Capitol and stop by the gift shop to pick up the book that catalogs and honors all of California's great First Ladies. "The First Ladies of California" written by Lynn Cook and Janet LaDue has gathered portraits and vignettes describing California's First Ladies and the impacts they made on the development of the Golden State.

Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum
1200 Front St.
Old Sacramento, CA
(916) 483-8818
Admission: Free
www.scoe.net/oldsacschoolhouse
Hours: Mon to Sat - 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Sun - 12 p.m. - 4 p.m. (volunteer staff permitting)

The Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum carries on the traditional, one-room, schoolhouse ways of the pioneer days. Celebrate the "schoolmarm" who shaped the minds of the youth during the early development stages of the United States before the turn of the century. This school house, built in 1977, is modeled after the Canon School which was constructed in 1884. The Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum is a great place for kids to go to gain an appreciation of the educational system and the role women took in it just before the turn of the century.

Related: Guide To Old Sacramento Historic State Park

Camille Wheat is a native of California. She has an AA in Liberal Arts and a BA in Art History. She enjoys Classical music and Jazz, as well as Opera. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.