March is National Women’s History Month, and 2023’s theme is “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories”.
Women’s History Month first began as a single day, which later led to a week, and now we dedicate the whole month of March to honoring women’s achievements throughout history. Check out this timeline showing the crucial years that guided the way for Women’s History Month:
1908
Over 15,000 women marched through the streets of New York City demanding better pay and voting rights.
1909
The first Women’s Day was organized in the United States by the Socialist Party. This day was to remember the women’s strike that took place a year earlier in New York City.
1911
The Socialist International established an International Women’s Day to honor women’s rights in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland.
1920
The 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote in America.
1975
The United Nations began celebrating International Women’s Day March 8.
1978
The first Women’s History Week started in the school district of Sonoma, California. Presentations, contests, and a parade were held all week to bring attention to women’s rights in history.
1981
President Jimmy Carter declared the first official Women History Week for March 2-9.
1987
Many states already had been dedicating a full month to celebrating women. Congress passed a proclamation establishing Women’s History Month.
Some Remarkable Women
Throughout history there have been many women whose contributions have advanced art, music, science, and society. Here are a couple of the standout women in history:
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote novels that popularized the anti-slavery campaign.
Susan B. Anthony led the charge of winning voting rights for women by establishing the National Woman’s Suffrage Association.
Emily Dickinson transformed the art of poetry.
Catherine Brewer Benson became the first woman to receive a Bachelor’s Degree in 1840 from Georgia Female College, the first college in the world allowed to grant degrees to women.
Hattie Caraway of Arkansas is the first women elected to Senate in 1932.
Sandra Day O’Connor is the first woman Supreme Court Justice in 1981.
Lilly Ledbetter is an activist for women’s pay equality who is behind the legislation that eases the time limitations of filing a pay discrimination claim.
There are many women who have made the world a better place by winning the right to vote, fighting for advancement in the workplace, and much more. Celebrate all the women who paved the way for others and honor all the remarkable women in your life, not only during Women’s History Month, but throughout the year.
