Minnesota History Center’s ‘Girlhood’ exhibit examines roles, restrictions and rebellions

As she strolled through the Minnesota History Center’s exhibit “Girlhood (It’s complicated),” Annie Johnson, manager of the center’s museum, noted that the exhibit does not make overtly political points about the history of girlhood in the United States.

“It isn’t telling anyone what to think,” Johnson said.

But it encourages reflection.

The exhibit, which opened at the St. Paul museum in September and runs until June 1, covers such categories as education, health, work, sports and fashion. It’s likely to remind many adult visitors of the rules and conditions they experienced — and, for younger visitors, the rules and conditions they are currently experiencing. What their school dress codes required, what girls’ sports were available to them, what their own early jobs or menstruation experiences entailed.

There are displays about birth control, beauty pageants, child labor and makeup, with enough provocative details to inspire discussions of inconsistencies and unfairness in the way American girls have been expected to behave and fit into society.

Happily, girls are also shown having fun or expressing themselves despite constraints.

“In classrooms, on the playground, at lunch, and even in the bathroom, girls learn how to behave, what to wear, what to say, and what to study,” reads a plaque that opens the education section. “They learn the rules, and they learn how to break the rules. In this mix, girls confront what society expects from them. Like anyone being ‘schooled,’ girls talk back.”

Its subject matter alone sets the exhibit apart from those in the vast majority of history and art museums.

“You go into a museum and you don’t often see girls,” Johnson said. “So much of this exhibit is really about recognizing girls’ voices.”

The traveling exhibit was developed by the National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian Institution, debuting in 2020. It features objects from Smithsonian collections, replica objects, historical photographs, murals and illustrations, sculptures and interactive elements.

One section, on girls’ basketball in Minnesota, was assembled by the Historical Society. Girls’ basketball dates back to 1893, just two years after boys started playing the game using peach baskets and a soccer ball. Teams and leagues formed around the country. A basketball handbook for girls outlined rules for “ladylike” behavior on the court.

After World War II, “a cultural shift happened,” Johnson said. “All of a sudden girls were [considered] too delicate for a lot of sports.”

Similarly, and perhaps surprisingly, science was once considered female territory. The reasoning was that “girls were close to nature,” Johnson said.

But after the sciences created high-paying professions, social norms changed. Girls were no longer encouraged to study them or considered equally skilled at them. Instead, they were supposed to focus on becoming wives and mothers. Women are still underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math occupations.

A section about fashion suggests that clothing rules were partly intended to keep girls in line. Dictating what girls could and could not wear shows how “girls’ bodies are policed,” Johnson said.

“So much is ingrained: ‘That’s not appropriate,’ ‘That’s not modest.’ All these rules that are so subjective,” she said.

Indeed, “girls’ fashion choices upset many cultural authorities,” a plaque says. In the 1920s, “bobbing” one’s hair (cutting it short) was a way of rebelling. It’s a reminder that “cutting one’s hair was a radical move; short hair upended ideas about female respectability.”

“Girlhood” highlights historic moments involving brave girls, such as a display about “The Little Rock Nine” — the first Black students to enter Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., amid harassment and threats from a belligerent mob, when schools were ordered to desegregate in the 1950s.

Another display has photos of Black girls held in slavery and required to care for white babies. “What would it be like to care for an infant who was also your boss?” Johnson wondered.

Yet another explores the history of girls working in textile factories, farms and other child labor roles. There’s a look at how girls were once asked to paint radium on watch faces, because their painting was more delicate, and consequently, they suffered from radium poisoning.

As they approach the end of the exhibit, visitors can find sheets of paper printed with questions related to the displays and are encouraged to give their responses. Many are placed where visitors can see them, and the wide variety of comments — some in childish printing, some in adult script — suggests some reflection is definitely happening there.

“What do politicians need to know?” one of the questions asks.

“That girls are strong!” “That women have as many rights as men do.” “That it’s their body therefore their choice.” “We are not freaking stupid!” “I am who I am!” “They don’t need to know if u don’t wanna tell.” “We’re not going back!”

“I should have the right to be who I want to be,” reads one, printed in a large, childlike hand, and slightly misspelled, “Womans rights!”

When: Exhibition ends June 1, 2025.

Where: Minnesota History Center, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul.

Hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wed., Fri., Sat. and Sun.; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thu.

Cost: $8-$15, free to children under 5 and members.

Info: mnhs.org/historycenter/activities/museum or 651-259-3000.