From Sacajawea to Dolly Parton, check out these visit-worthy spots in the US that are dedicated to some of the country’s most inspiring women who have made an impact on art, music, culture, and more.
LessNo female painter has made it into American living rooms quite like Georgia O’Keeffe. O’Keeffe’s life and works are on display in two spots: the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe and The O’Keeffe Home & Studio in Abiquiu, about an hour north of the city. The museum contains nine thematic galleries of the artist’s works—bring earbuds, and you can take the free audio tour right from your smartphone. The Abiquiu site is open to visitors who’ve booked a guided tour.
The “Queen of Tejano Music” lives on in Corpus Christi. Opened three years after her untimely death—perhaps you know her story from the 1997 Jennifer Lopez classic, Selena—The Selena Museum is owned and operated by the hit singer’s family. Admission includes a guided tour of Selena’s real-life possessions, and you’ll be able to step inside the recording studio she used for much of her work. (JLo filmed here, and Tejano artists still utilize this space.)
Sitting right on the site of Rosa Parks’ famous arrest—for not giving up her seat on the bus to a white man—the Rosa Parks Museum tells the story of all the activist fought for. At the museum, visitors will explore how Parks influenced this era and all it stands for—they’ll also tour Civil Rights artifacts from Montgomery and the South at large, including witnessing a restored Montgomery city bus, just like the one Parks used to spark nationwide change.
If there’s one woman who’s taken American culture by storm, it’s either Beyoncé or Dolly Parton—but Beyoncé doesn’t have a theme park. One of Tennessee’s most popular attractions, Dollywood combines all your standard amusement-park fun with the heritage arts, crafts, and music of the bluesy Smoky Mountains. If you’re lucky, you might even catch one of Dolly’s performances; the absolute icon hails right from this area and continues to make semi-regular appearances.
Just east of downtown Salmon, Idaho, the Sacajawea Interpretive, Cultural, and Educational Center is dedicated to perhaps America’s greatest Indigenous heroine, Sacajawea. An Agai’dika Shoshone-Bannock, she played a pivotal role in the Corps of Discovery, aka the Lewis and Clark Expedition. She had to do everything the men had to do across the wilderness—and with a small child in tow. The on-site interpretive center reveals all that’s known about Sacajawea’s life.
The first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize—in 1931—Jane Addams was a queer suffragist, social worker, activist, and so much more. She founded Chicago's Hull House in 1889, providing all sorts of care and education to immigrants of all backgrounds. Growing to include 13 buildings, the Hull House Museum protects and comprises two: the Hull Home and the Residents’ Dining Hall. Explore here, and you’re exploring where tenets of American democracy took shape.