Women’s History Month celebrates the often-overlooked contributions of women in history, society, and culture. It has been annually observed in the United States and other countries, including the United Kingdom and Australia, every March since 1987. The month is observed in October in Canada. March is selected as the month for observing Women’s History Month to correspond with International Women’s Day on March 8, and Canada observes it in October in correspondence with Persons Day on October 18.
As recently as the 1970s, women’s history was virtually an unknown topic in the K-12 curriculum or in the general public consciousness. To address this situation, the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women initiated a “Women’s History Week” celebration in 1978.
The week of March 8th, International Women’s Day was chosen as the focal point of the observance. The local Women’s History Week activities met with an enthusiastic response, and dozens of schools planned special programs for Women’s History Week. Over one-hundred community, women participated by doing special presentations in classrooms throughout the country and an annual “Real Woman” Essay Contest drew hundreds of entries. The finale for the week was a celebratory parade and program held in the center of downtown Santa Rosa, California.
By 1986, 14 states had already declared March as Women’s History Month. This momentum and state-by-state action were used as the rationale to lobby Congress to declare the entire month of March 1987 as National Women’s History Month. In 1987, Congress declared March as National Women’s History Month in perpetuity. A special Presidential Proclamation is issued every year which honors the extraordinary achievements of American women.
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