Rebel Women: Defying Victorianism, on view at the Museum of the City of New York from July 17, 2018, through January 6, 2019, will explore the trailblazing women who challenged Victorian social norms in 19th-century New York City. Featuring photographs, garments, ephemera, and prints primarily drawn from the Museum’s collections, the exhibition will bring to light the compelling and often untold stories of these independent and unconventional women who had an indelible impact on New York’s society, culture, and economy by the turn of the 20th century. The Victorian era is commonly known as a period of constraints on women’s lives—a time when white, middle-class ideas about femininity defined women by their roles as guardians of virtue and relegated them to the private, domestic sphere. During this era, a woman could be considered a rebel simply by speaking in public, working outside the home, or disregarding middle-
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