The International Museum of Women (IMOW), headquartered in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States, is an online

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

that covers women's issues worldwide. Since March 2014 it has been part of the

Global Fund for Women The Global Fund for Women is a non-profit foundation funding women's human rights initiatives. It was founded in 1987 by New Zealander Anne Firth Murray, and co-founded by Frances Kissling and Laura Lederer to fund women's initiatives aroun ...

Creation and expansion

I.M.O.W. was founded as the Women's Heritage Museum in 1985. As the Women's Heritage Museum, it produced exhibitions, public programs, book fairs, educational resources for

Women's History Month Women's History Month is an annual observance to highlight the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. Celebrated during March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with Internationa ...

and honored local women. In 1997, a group of Bay Area teachers spurred the drive to create a larger museum by raising donations. Since its expansion under the new name in 1997, I.M.O.W. has organized exhibitions, hosted public fora, developed educational curriculum for schools, and created a number of speaker series. As of June 2009, the museum exists as a virtual museum. A 2005 effort to build a facility for $120 million failed.

Exhibitions

The museum comprises several online exhibits. One of the exhibits, ''Imagining Ourselves'', an exhibit of artwork and writing covering how women aged 20 to 40 from around the world define their respective generations, edited into an anthology published in March 2006 by New World Library. ''Economica: Women and the Global Economy'', created in 2010, covered how women from around the world interact with money and their roles in the economy.

Merger

On March 5, 2014, IMOW merged with

, and is now described as 'now part of Global Fund for Women'.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Museums in San Francisco Women's museums in California Museums established in 1985 Virtual museums 1985 establishments in California Women in San Francisco