Cowboy Bob’s Questions and Answers - page 207 - What did cowgirls wear? (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2022, from http://www.lemen.com/qa207.html
Fee, E., Brown, T. M., Lazarus, J., & Theerman, P. (2002). Medical education for women, 1870. American Journal of Public Health, 92(3), 363. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.92.3.363
STEM Connection: Women’s Roles & Gender in the 19th Century
The evolving roles of women in the 19th century were not only shaped by social and legal reforms but also reflected—and influenced—STEM fields in subtle yet powerful ways. The intersections of medical education, traditional healing, public health, Indigenous knowledge systems, fashion technology, and legal reform offer students rich opportunities to explore gender through scientific, technological, and economic lenses. This body of sources invites inquiry into how women negotiated access to science and health, reshaped medical norms, and contributed to innovation in ways often overlooked in dominant historical narratives.
Public Health, Medical History & Women's Medical Education
Sources like Medical Education for Women, 1870 and Dr. Smellie’s Prescriptions for Pregnant Women present a compelling backdrop for lessons on gender equity in STEM. Students can examine how barriers to formal medical training for women were overcome, compare historic vs. current public health practices, and explore reproductive health from historical and scientific perspectives. This opens discussions about the intersection of gender bias and health outcomes.
STEM Activity Idea: Students chart the timeline of women’s admittance to medical schools globally and analyze correlating public health outcomes.
Traditional Ecological Knowledge & Biomedicine
Las Curanderas and Native women’s contributions to wellness and healing introduce students to Indigenous ethnobotany, holistic care, and the overlap between traditional and biomedical science. These sources allow educators to highlight non-Western systems of medicine and their empirical bases, expanding the definition of scientific practice.
STEM Activity Idea: Compare herbal treatments used by curanderas with modern pharmaceutical equivalents. Students can research active compounds and analyze efficacy.
Clothing Technology & Ergonomics
Articles such as Riding Skirt – 1800s Clothing and What Did Cowgirls Wear? lend themselves to exploration in design engineering and materials science. Students can study how changes in women’s fashion reflected practical innovations related to mobility, safety, and occupational needs.
STEM Activity Idea: Reconstruct a 19th-century riding skirt pattern using modern materials and test for durability, heat retention, and range of motion.
Legal History, Demographics & Data Analysis
Indian Women and the Law, 1830–1934 and How Native American Women Inspired the Women’s Rights Movement provide a data-rich lens into how laws shaped gender roles and access to resources. Students can extract data on legal case outcomes, tribal recognition, or voting rights over time and analyze shifts in gendered legal representation.
STEM Activity Idea: Create a data visualization showing the expansion of legal rights by demographic and region, comparing Native and non-Native women.
Historical GIS & Cultural Transmission
Marking NM’s Historic Women and visual media tied to women’s public presence (e.g., Delmonico’s policy shift on unaccompanied women) offer opportunities to map changing social geographies and analyze how physical space reflects gender norms.
STEM Activity Idea: Build a GIS timeline map that overlays women’s rights landmarks with corresponding transportation, education, and health infrastructure expansion.
STEM Literacy & Gender in Scientific Publishing
Sleeper-Smith’s Indian Women and French Men and Berger’s legal history offer opportunities to teach students how to critically analyze academic writing through a STEM lens. Students can dissect arguments, evaluate use of evidence, and connect social science research to biological or environmental outcomes.
STEM Activity Idea: Conduct a cross-disciplinary analysis of a historical journal article, identifying its STEM implications and proposing modern research extensions.
Summary: This set of resources reveals how 19th-century women were not just subjects of STEM-related change—they were active participants, innovators, and reformers. Whether through midwifery, public health reform, environmental stewardship, or legal activism, women helped shape the social, scientific, and technological fabric of their times. By framing historical gender studies through STEM pathways, students gain a more inclusive understanding of how knowledge systems evolve—and who contributes to them.