Since 1978, March was officially declared as National Women’s History Month. This celebration honors all that women have contributed to culture, history, and society over the years.
This tradition first originated from the Sonoma School District in California as they created a weeklong celebration to recognize women’s accomplishments. They organized a “Real Woman” essay contest, thousands of presentations at the various schools, and a parade in downtown Santa Rosa. It took a couple of years for their noble efforts to be fully recognized and appreciated, but by 1980, President Jimmy Carter decided the celebration should be nation-wide. He saw how the event’s popularity had spread to far-reaching communities throughout the nation. He then decided to establish the week of March 8 to officially be National Women’s History Week. March 8 was chosen because this has been International Women’s day since 1911. Congress approved Women’s History Month the following year as a national event. Six years later, the National Women’s History Project desired to extend the celebration period and petitioned Congress until it was lengthened to the entire month of March, instead of simply one week.
As part of the March 2011 celebration, the White House created a progress report as a marking of 50 years of this event. It discovered that “younger women are now more likely than their male counterparts to hold a college career and that the number of men and women in the labor force has nearly equalized.” Women’s History Month is an important reminder of how much progress has been made in the equalization between men and women.
This month-long tribute to women is an important event to recognize. It has been around for nearly three decades now and has increasingly raised awareness. The celebration of Women’s History Month continues to grow and deserves to be recognized for all that women have done for our modern society.