Voted “Best Tour For Out-Of-Towners”

by Washington City Paper in 2025, 2024, 2023

Hidden History of the First Ladies (Walking/Virtual) From Martha Washington to Helen Taft, each woman who has served in the role of first lady of the United States has a remarkable story. The role is unpaid and undefined, and yet the many women serving as First Lady have been essential to the growth of The United States. Loop around the north and south sides of the White House grounds for a full view of the Executive mansion and stories of how the first ladies have improved the design on the “The People’s House.” Hear stories of Betty Ford who once danced atop a table inside the West Wing and how Grace Coolidge had a pet raccoon! Get a glimpse of the elegant and iconic Willard Hotel, where First Lady Florence Harding once lived. See the exterior of the residence of Dolley Madison, nicknamed the second White House, and learn how Jacqueline Kennedy preserved Lafayette Square from destruction. These heartfelt stories help us feel connected to the country’s most beloved ladies who have bravely faced adversity and overcome struggles like breast cancer, media scrutiny, and unfaithful husbands. Join A Tour Of Her Own staff on this tour and introduce yourself to the stories of America’s first ladies, not often recognized with physical monuments, but without a doubt ingrained in the fabric of our city and history. The tour begins in Freedom Plaza and on the south side of the White House.

Scandalous Women of Embassy Row (Walking/Virtual) Embassy Row may be known today for diplomacy and grandeur, but during the Gilded Age it was also a stage for scandal, ambition, and women who refused to play by the rules. This tour explores the lives of elite women who used wealth, social status, and influence to shape Washington’s political, cultural, and media landscapes. Meet bold figures like Isabel Weld Perkins whose personal wealth funded the elegant Anderson house known today as the headquarters for the Society of the Cincinnati. A Boston heiress with deep colonial roots, Isabel traveled widely, amass an extraordinary art collection, became a prolific writer, and eventually volunteer with the Red Cross, earning international honors for her service. After becoming a widow in 1902, Alice Pike Barney embraced her role as a “New Woman,” pursuing art, hosting salons, and raising daughters educated in feminist ideals. She turned her home into a center for artistic salons and this mansion would house the Smithsonian Institute until it was sold in 1999. Cissy Patterson had a scandalous marriage abroad that led to an international custody battle and years of legal struggle. After returning to Washington, she reinvented herself as a journalist, writing for the New York Daily News before becoming editor of the Washington Herald and Washington Times under William Randolph Hearst. She transformed both papers by prioritizing society reporting, hiring women journalists, and introducing a bold new visual style. In 1939, Cissy purchased the papers outright and merged them into the Washington Times-Herald, becoming one of the most powerful publishers in the nation’s capital. This tour reveals Embassy Row not simply as a corridor of embassies and mansions, but as a stage where women wielded power, defied convention, and left an enduring mark on Washington, DC and the nation. Starts at DuPont Circle, ends near Dupont Metro.

Herstoric Street Call Boxes (Walking/Virtual) Join us for a walking tour of the new call boxes installed in downtown D.C. While call boxes were once part of the city's emergency services system, today many stand as public art installations. Eight boxes have recently been converted to share the story of eight significant women in our city's history, ranging from Katherine Graham to Alice Paul, Mary Church Terrell to Julia Ward Howe. This brisk one hour tour will make a quick stop at each call box and we’ll learn about the women who helped shape our nation. The tour is 2 hours long, covering all 8 call boxes in a walkable city-block area. It begins outside of the historic Post Pub and finishes at Freedom Plaza.

Department Stores: A Feminine Oasis (Walking/Virtual) “All women love shopping” a cliché if there ever was one, that haunts half the population to this day. Shopping was a place for women to find a modicum of freedom from the male dominated world. This nexus of classes and commerce allowed for women to casually socialize in chance meetings and exercise the power of economics often unavailable to them in regimented day to day lives. Here in Washington DC, many of the largest department stores were situated between the White House and the United States Capitol Building. This tour starts at Freedom Plaza.

Mapping Women’s Suffrage (Walking/Virtual) On August 18th, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the United States constitution was ratified granting federal voting rights to women. The 72-year struggle for women’s suffrage spanned across generations. While we recognize 1920 as a year when many American women gained the right to vote, we must acknowledge that this was not a universal experience. Many women voted prior to 1920 and many women would still be restricted after 1920. Suffragists were often met with violence, civil unrest, torture, imprisonment, physical injuries and even death. During this presentation, we share and honor the perseverance of these trailblazing women. This tour starts at Navy Memorial and ends at White House South.

Hookers, Healers, and Heroines (Virtual) The Civil War rocked the foundation of American daily life and changed the sociopolitical landscape, with the nation’s capital at its epicenter. Men went off to fight, and women found themselves in the unique position of supporting themselves. How did the women who called Washington home make it through those tumultuous times. Some stories include: Elizabeth Keckley, Belva Lockwood, Dr. Mary Walker, Clara Barton, Charlotte Grimke, Treasury Girls Scandal, and more. Join us on a virtual tour to hear about how the women of Washington, DC managed to survive not only the war, but leave an indelible mark on American history through their hard work and perseverance in roles as far-reaching as lawyer, seamstress, spy, and the only female Medal of Honor recipient.

Women & Art of the Gilded Age (Virtual) This program focuses on the decades between the1870s-1920s and will highlight women in the art world during the Gilded Age. These women were instrumental in a revolutionary time in art history the end of the old masters and the beginning of the modern masters. The collectors supported avant-garde artists before they became the household names they are today and their collections support internationally acclaimed museums. This tour will feature artists like Berthe Morrisot, Eva Gonzalez, Rosa Bonheur, Cecilia Beaux, and Anna Boch as well as collectors like Louisine Havemeyer, Helene Kroller-Muller, and Gertrude Stein. We will focus heavily on Mary Cassatt, who was both artist and promoter.

Sculpting Herstory (Virtual) Discover sculptures by women, for women, and about women in Washington, DC. While there are too few statues of women in the nation's capitol but there are many talented artists behind them. Explore the legacies of Vinnie Ream who sculpted President Lincoln, Glenna Goodacre of the Vietnam Women's Memorial, and Nina Akamu of the National Japanese American Memorial.

Wild Women of Watergate (Virtual) Fifty years ago, the Watergate scandal would rock Washington, DC and capture the attention of millions of Americans. While the most famous figures dominating the press attention and subsequent cultural impact were men, women engaged and intersected with this watershed event in intriguing and essential ways. Discover the women in the White House, at the newspapers, pursuing justice, and fighting against Nixon and how their stories help us understand a changing American society.

Equal Rights Amendment (Virtual) The fight for the Equal Rights Amendment has been a battle spanning almost a century, intersecting with key moments for women's history in the 20th century and linking the three waves of modern feminism, from the suffragists to the women's liberation movement to today's activists. This virtual tour traces the history, evolution, and current status of the Equal Rights Amendment, using iconic Capitol Hill landmarks as touchstones for a story that is still being written.