Museum celebrates women’s achievements
ASTON » Nineteen-yearold Rachael McCullough stood at the township Women’s Equality Day ceremony as she wore a floor-length white dress and a suffragette sash.
“Today, we ring bells in memory of the women who could not vote,” she said as she and the other attendants clanged their bells. “Let freedom ring, ladies!”
And while McCullough was a prominent part of the ceremony, she has been forwarding women’s causes for years as the founder of the “Traveling Women’s History Museum.”
In 2016, McCullough was searching for a project for her Gold Award, the Girl Scout equivalent of reaching Eagle Scout status for the Boy Scouts, and her focus turned to her education.
At the time, she was a student of the PA Leadership Charter School. She has since graduated and is studying at Delaware County Community College while simultaneously serving in the Emergency Medical Services.
But four years ago, McCullough said she noticed that women were underrepresented in her history lessons.
“I was finding throughout high school, I was finding that women weren’t talked about in our history books,” she said, adding as an example pages and pages and pages dedicated to Ulysses Grant and Robert E. Lee in the Civil War. “And Harriet Tubman and Clara Barton got a couple of sentences.”
So she pointed that out to her teacher, who responded, “Nobody ever pointed that out to me.”
Then McCullough decided that this would be the focus of her Gold Award project.
“I decided that I wanted to make sure that people were learning about women’s history,” she said.
And what was supposed to be a two-day project that did culminate with her Gold Award has now become a lifelong project for the township resident.
The museum is McCullough’s own personal collection of items of women’s history spanning from the 1770s through modern day. People have donated items to her and some things are on loan.
It serves as a pop-up museum. Prior to COVID-19, it had been a hands-on, interactive experience where visitors could touch items and even try on clothes women wore from another century. Now, it’s an online event.
“I do it all for free,” McCullough said. “I remember I was very fortunate as a child. I was able to go to museums. I knew there were kids who couldn’t go to museums because their parents couldn’t afford it.”
As a result, she chose to not charge any fees associated with her museum or exhibits.
“I make sure that my museum is accessible for everyone regardless of financial status or disability status,” she said, adding that she’s grateful for the volunteers who help her, particularly in the installing and taking down of exhibits when she traveled prior to the pandemic.
“I go out to places – schools, Girl Scout troops, historical societies,” she said. “One of the cool things about my museum is it can grow and shrink.”
She explained it can be suited for any particular reason and can even address specific topics such as women’s suffrage or women in the workplace during World War II.
It’s traveled to Maryland twice, once for an exhibit at the Laurel Museum for the Laurel Historical Society in March and at the Small Museum Association conference at the University of Maryland in February.
McCullough said it’s traveled extensively in Pennsylvania and was scheduled for a Delaware visit that was nixed because of coronavirus.
She’s also received recognition for her work. Last year, she was honored as one of the National Liberty Museum’s 13 “Young Heroes.”
On Aug. 26, McCullough participated in the Women’s Equality Day ceremony in Aston to commemorate the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote, as she recognized at the ceremony that women of color did not get that same right until 45 years later.
The ceremony was also attended by Magisterial District Judge Diane Holefelder, who spoke of how things have changed but also of the importance of remembering one’s history.
“The civilian support roles and leadership shown by women during World War I made clear to all citizens of the United States that females deserve the right of equality and equal protection under the law,” she said, adding that prior to 1920, women did not have parent rights of their own children, the right to own their own homes or to serve on juries or vote.
“It was not until Aug.
26, 1920 after more than
70 years of marching in masses, picketing the White House, personal hunger strikes and more that women in America won the right to vote,” Holefelder said.
The 19th amendment moved the country to a more inclusive democracy, the judge said, one that now sees women fighting in combat zones. However, she said, the work continues, as efforts such as McCullough’s help to advance that.
“We will honor the past, teach the history of women and their individual and collaborative accomplishments, to open more doors that further ensure the equality of all citizens and elevate each other through education,” Holefelder said.
That is exactly what McCullough’s focus is with the Traveling Women’s History Museum.
“I want to make sure that all women are represented,” she said. “I want to make sure there’s no barrier with it.”
While the in-person exhibits have been suspended during the coronavirus crisis, McCullough continues to offer online seminars for free. Those interested can reach McCullough on her Facebook page at the Traveling Women’s History Museum.