Little White School Museum presents Smithsonian exhibit saluting U.S. women inventors

Throughout American history, women with diverse backgrounds and interests created inventions that changed lives every day. But women haven’t always had equal opportunities to be inventors or received as much recognition.

To highlight their achievements, the Little White School Museum, 72 Polk St., Oswego, in cooperation with the Smithsonian and the United States Patent and Trademark Office, is featuring “Picturing Women Inventors,” a poster exhibition that explores the inventions of 19 highly accomplished American women. Astronauts, computer pioneers, and businesswomen join athletes, engineers, and even teenagers in this remarkable group of inventors.

The exhibit will be available at the museum through May. Admission to the exhibit and to the museum is free. “Picturing Women Inventors” showcases the breakthroughs, motivations and challenges that women encountered while pursuing their goals as inventors.

The poster exhibition highlights stories of inventors including Marilyn Hamilton, who, after a hang-gliding accident in 1978 left her paralyzed, invented a lightweight wheelchair that was easier to maneuver. Diversity of background and age are showcased including inventor Alexis Lewis, who, at the age of 12 in 2011, was inspired to adapt a traditional Native American sled, called a travois, by adding wheels to create a simpler way to transport families and their belongings in Somalia.

The poster exhibition was designed to educate and inspire young people to see themselves as future inventors. In addition to “Picturing Women Inventors,” the Little White School Museum also features local women such as 19th century mystery author Emma Murdock Van Deventer and Oswego working woman Alice Gray in the museum gallery. Also, a new seasonal exhibit is featuring the story of how young Edna Wolf’s 1908 confirmation certificate from the Oswego Prairie Church traveled all the way to Sacramento, California, and back home to Oswego this past spring.

“Picturing Women Inventors” is distributed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It’s sponsored by Lyda Hill Philanthropies IF/THEN Initiative and Ericsson.

The museum is a joint project of the nonprofit Oswegoland Heritage Association and the Oswegoland Park District.

Current museum hours, by reservation, are Thursdays and Fridays from 1 to 5:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; and Mondays from 4 to 9 p.m. The museum is closed to visitors on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Walk-in visits are usually available depending on the number of guests already in the building.

For advance reservations or more information, call 630-554-4494 or visit the museum website at littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org.