Celebrate Women’s History Month at the Betsy Ross House with free, special events all month long!

Women’s History Month events at the Betsy Ross House are free courtesy of a friend of the Betsy Ross House.

Meet the Women of the Betsy Ross House

March 15 | 11am – 3pm 

Meet Betsy at two different stages of her life, along with Hannah Lithgow, who rented Betsy her rooms in the house. Talk to a young Betsy Ross while secretly stitches the nation’s first flag in her bedchamber, away from the prying eyes of Loyalists. Then, meet Betsy Ashburn, the remarried upholsterer, now participating in even more rebellious activities – making musket cartridges for the Continental Army. Meet the Women of the Betsy Ross House is included with House Tour admission.

Healing Women: Women’s Care Work and Caring for Women’s Bodies during the 18th Century

March 20 | 5:30pm

In this special after-hours event, meet, for the first time, a colonial-era, Philadelphia Midwife. Her introduction will be paired with a special lecture by University of Pennsylvania Professor Kathleen Brown, focusing on women’s medicine and reproductive health in the 18th century.

What was the experience of pregnancy, childbirth, and reproductive injury for women living during the 18th century? How did women take care of their own bodies, and how did they try to protect the lives of loved ones during a century of recurrent epidemics and other risks to life and limb? In this talk, Brown will explore how threats to women’s bodily health and resources for care varied greatly depending on whether they were Black and enslaved or white and prosperous.  We will also consider how dramatic changes in medical education affected the ability of skilled female practitioners to be taken seriously as healers and midwives.

The experience includes tours of the Betsy Ross House and concludes with a question and answer session.

The program is free, courtesy of a Friend of the Betsy Ross House.

Registration is full, but The Betsy Ross House Instagram will livestream the event. Follow the page and turn on alerts to be notified, or fill out this form to have a link sent directly to your email! The form can also be used to sign up for the waitlist.

History Maker Saturdays

Saturdays in March | 11am – 3pm

In honor of Women’s History Month, meet women from history each Saturday of the month, including businesswomen, abolitionists, and suffragists.

March 2: Julia Stockton Rush – Prominent Philadelphian

March 9: Ona Judge – Abolitionist

March 15: Meet the Women of the Betsy Ross House – Betsy Ross, Betsy Ashburn, and Hannah Lithgow

March 22: A NEW History Maker – A Colonial-Era Midwife

March 29: A NEW History Maker – A Colonial-Era Midwife

Storytelling Sundays

Sundays in March | 11am – 3pm

Award-winning Once Upon A Nation Storytellers shed light on women’s contributions to our nation’s history that our history books missed.

As always, meet Betsy Ross, herself, as she works in her upholstery shop. She can share the story of the first flag and so much more. She was a business owner, patriot, single mother, and entrepreneur and led a fascinating life during exciting times. Ask her all about it!