The contributions of women in the musical instrument industry have been largely ignored by historians. Only by addressing why women have been omitted from these histories and discussing the realms in which women have worked, will the importance of women and their varied roles in the histories of musical instrument manufacturing be appreciated and acknowledged. While the realm of musical instrument manufacturing has traditionally been dominated by men, we know that women worked in family businesses, factories, and as individual makers throughout history.
Established by historian Jayme Kurland in 2020, the Instrumental Women project highlights the vast contributions of womxn to the global histories of the various musical instrument industries. This project shares and celebrates Instrumental Women, past and present. Instrumental Women aims to:
- Center and promote intersectional feminism and antiracist scholarship.
- Celebrates past and present womxn instrument builders, technicians, repairers, and designers.
- Shares content that promotes these values on social media.
- Creates new content in the form of blog posts, social media posts, interviews, publications, and digital history projects.
- Hosts two databases:
Instrumental women supports:
- BIPOC Rights
- Indigenous Rights
- LatinX Rights
- Asian Rights
- Minority Rights
- Immigrant Rights
- LGBTQ Rights
- Disability Rights
- Design Justice
