Women’s History Month

International Women’s Day (March 8) has been recognized by the United Nations since 1975, but the holiday’s roots are found in early efforts in the 1900s to promote women’s rights—especially suffrage. In 1908, over 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay, and the right to vote. The following year, the first National Woman’s Day was marked with mass convenings across the U.S. Spreading from the U.S. to Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland, the first International Women’s Day in 1911 was celebrated with widely attended rallies and public events.  

As deep cultural shifts emerged after World War I and World War II, women continued to collectively organize and advocate for social and legal equality. Responding to increasing pressure, the United Nations General Assembly recognized March 8 as International Women’s Day and established 1975 as International Women’s Year. From 1975 to 1977, the National Commission on the Observance of International Women’s Year established by President Ford held public hearings, organized conferences, issued two comprehensive reports with recommendations to the president, and expanded the scope of “women’s issues” across racial, economic, and political divides. Read more about International Women’s Year activities in the U.S. in this blog post.      

In the wake of International Women’s Year, the first known designation of Women’s History Week in the U.S. began in Santa Rosa, California, when the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women organized a “Women’s History Week” in 1978. The week of March 8 was chosen as the focal point for observance to coincide with International Women’s Day. Local activities received such an enthusiastic response that dozens of schools planned special programs for Women’s History Week.  

As the grassroots movement to officially dedicate time in March to examine women’s history, issues, and contributions gained momentum, a collection of women’s groups and historians met for the Summer Institute in Women’s History at Sarah Lawrence College from July 14 to 31, 1979. The conference was sponsored by the Women’s Action Alliance with cooperation from the Smithsonian Institution. After the conference, historians and women’s activist groups—led by the National Women’s History Project (now the National Women’s History Alliance)—successfully lobbied for a national Women’s History Week. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring March 2-8, 1980, as National Women’s History Week.  

In President Carter’s message to the nation, he said, “From the first settlers who came to our shores … men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength, and love of the women who built American was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.” 

Throughout the next few years, Congress repeatedly passed joint resolutions designating a week in March as “Women’s History Week,” prompting schools and women’s organizations across the country to host events and develop educational resources about women’s contributions in American history. In 1987, in response to continued efforts by the National Women’s History Project, Congress established Women’s History Month in March as an annual federally recognized observance. Since 1995, each president has issued a proclamation calling upon the public to observe the month with appropriate activities and ceremonies and to study the contributions of women to U.S. history.