Women's History Month

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In 1910 The International Woman’s Conference designated March 8 as International Women’s Day. The conference believed having a day to commemorate women might help with their promotion of equal rights, including suffrage. In 1978, the Sonoma County California Commission on the Status of Women celebrated the first Women’s History Week with programs and activities in their local schools. In 1979, The Women’s History Institute at Sarah Lawrence College decided to recreate the success of the Sonoma Women’s History Week by supporting efforts to promote the celebration across the country and lobbying for national recognition. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued a presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 2- 8, as National Women's History Week:

 From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, 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 America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well. As Dr. Gerda Lerner has noted, “Women’s History is Women’s Right. – It is an essential and indispensable heritage from which we can draw pride, comfort, courage, and long-range vision.” I ask my fellow Americans to recognize this heritage with appropriate activities during National Women’s History Week, March 2-8, 1980. I urge libraries, schools, and community organizations to focus their observances on the leaders who struggled for equality – – Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriet Tubman, and Alice Paul. Understanding the true history of our country will help us to comprehend the need for full equality under the law for all our people. This goal can be achieved by ratifying the 27th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states that “Equality of Rights under the Law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

 In 1987, Congress designated March as Women’s History Month. Since 1987, Women’s History Month has been celebrated every year. The theme for 2018 is: 

Nevertheless She Persisted: Honoring Women Who Fight All Forms of Discrimination Against Women