Women’s History Month

Happy National Women’s History Month!! Over thirty-five years ago, five friends in Santa Rosa, California, noticed that something was very wrong.  They realized that few women were featured in schoolbooks.  In fact, no more than 3% of the content was devoted to women! So, the friends—Molly Murphy MacGregor, Paula Hammett, Mary Ruthsdotter, Maria Cuevas, and Bette Morgan—decided to do something about it. Selecting the week of March 8th to coincide with International Women’s Day on March 8th, an already established worldwide event, the friends organized a week-long Women’s History event celebrating  historic women’s contributions to every aspect of American life. The week-long events were so successful that Molly Murphy MacGregor proposed the idea at a Women’s History Institute, chaired by the eminent historian Gerda Lerner, at Sarah Lawrence College in 1979.  Inspired by Molly’s presentation, the group passed a resolution to create a National Women’s History Week, an idea that President Jimmy Carter made official in 1980. In 1987, the National Women’s History Project successfully petitioned the United States Congress to designate March as National Women’s History Month. Today National Women’s History Month is widely celebrated across America in offices, museums, libraries, and schools. The President of the United States issues a special proclamation. Happy Celebrating!!