Every year the month of March is recognized as Women's History Month, commemorating and encouraging the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history. A special presidential proclamation is issued every year which honors the extraordinary achievements of American women - but this was not always the case.
Women’s History Month actually began as a local celebration in Santa Rosa, California - and just for a week, not the full month. The Education Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women first planned and executed a “Women’s History Week” celebration in 1978. The organizers selected the week of March 8 to correspond with International Women’s Day. The movement spread across the country as other communities initiated their own Women’s History Week celebrations the following year.
In 1980, a consortium of women’s groups and historians—led by the National Women’s History Project (now the National Women's History Alliance)—successfully lobbied for national recognition. In February 1980, President Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring the Week of March 8th 1980 as National Women’s History Week. Six years after Carter's proclamation, Congress, at the urging of the National Women's History Project, declared March of each year to be Women's History Month.
Want to learn more? For starters, take a look at some of the resources listed here!