Born: Unknown (1940s or earlier), United States (assumed)
Died: NA (as of 2021)
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women creator Allison Tyra’s book Uncredited: Women’s Overlooked, Misattributed, and Stolen Work.
Joanna Cohan Scherer worked in the Smithsonian Institution’s anthropology archives for decades, starting in 1966. While there, she faced various instances of gender discrimination, not least of which was the fact that, by 1974, the department had never hired a single woman curator, despite the existence of thousands of women anthropologists. She filed a class action and sex discrimination lawsuit, arguing that sexism had hindered her career. She won in 1975, and received a long overdue promotion, with a title upgrade from Museum Specialist to Anthropologist. The department’s first female curator, Adrienne Kaeppler, joined the staff later that year.
Scherer also went on to sue for the reprisals she faced, such as unfounded negative performance reviews, harassment, and withholding of further earned promotions. She won that case in 1982.