Women's history you probably haven't heard: How about Fanny Fern? She left her abusive husband at a time when it was completely unheard of and was completely disowned by her family because of it. Writing was the only skill she had, and she went on to get a book deal for a collection of her essays and was one of the most widely published journalists. She was offered a weekly column and negotiated for $100 a column at a time when the average journalist was making $25 a column. It made her the highest-paid in the entire United States, regardless of gender. She wrote about taboo topics such as divorce, free love, and prostitution. She ended up remarrying an editor 11 years her junior and had him sign a prenup to protect her assets. You can still find her novel Ruth Hall in most bookshops. __ Join us Saturdays and Sundays for a feminist walking tour of NYC. Comment "UNTOLD" for upcoming dates. Limited run, so grab them now.

Another news feature, another opportunity for Nikki's NY gestures to go absolutely wild. Shout out to Nikki's mom, who does not love being on camera but agreed to be a tour participant that day. We swear we didn't realize they were going to interview everyone at the end. 🙈 And thank you so much to the @nhkworldjapan team who reached out and putting so much time into building the segment. If you’re not in Asia to catch live - you can see the YT link in our bio.

Unique things to do in NYC: learn about the women who were involved in the changing systems that affect us still today. Like Hattie Hemschemeyer who helped build the modern nurse-midwife system. Hattie arrived in Harlem in 1931 to train at a new midwifery clinic called Lobenstine. Until then, midwives, many Black or immigrant women, delivered a large share of NYC births in their own neighborhoods. Reformers grew skeptical of that system. Instead of training those midwives, they built something new: a nursing degree first, then a midwifery credential on top. Most who could afford that pipeline were white. Hattie became one of Lobenstine’s first graduates, then its director. In 1935, the city put her on a committee to review midwife licensing. That same year, the country’s first school for non-nurse midwives was shut down, on safety claims research at the time already disproved. Hattie was on both sides of that fight. She helped organize the American College of Nurse-Midwives and became its first president. She also sat on the committee that restricted the old profession. It’s not a clean story. Midwifery care today means fewer C-sections and better outcomes for low-risk pregnancies. It can also be hard to access and expensive without insurance. Black women still account for 55% of NYC’s maternal deaths, but only 23% of its births. The city has started funding doula and midwifery care in its hospitals. Slow, but there. It feels like the real continuation of Hattie’s work. —
Want to learn the story of more women who you’ve probably never heard of but probably should know? We run a 2-hour walking tour every Saturday and Sunday, finishing up in Central Park. Comment UNTOLD for tickets.

Things to do in NYC this weekend: Hop on a feminist history walking tour that covers the history of women we can only wish had been included in the history books. Like Augusta and Adeline Van Buren, who rode over 5,000 miles across the continental U.S. on motorcycles (in pants) to prove that women were capable of serving as military dispatch riders during World War I (at a time when many states had laws against women wearing pants). 🏍️ __ Tour spots are limited - comment UNTOLD for upcoming dates and tag a friend who knows their women’s history. 💪