As recently as the 1970's, women's history was virtually an unknown topic in the K-12 curriculum or in 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 for 1978. We chose the week of March 8 to make International Women's Day the
focal point of the observance. The activities that were held met with enthusiastic response, and within a few years dozens of schools
planned special programs for Women's History Week, over one-hundred community women participated in the Community Resource Women
Project, an annual "Real Woman" Essay Contest drew hundreds of entries, and we were staging a marvelous annual parade and program in
downtown Santa Rosa, California.
In 1987, the National Women's History Project petitioned Congress to expand the national celebration to the entire
month of March. Since then, the National Women's History Month Resolution has been approved with bipartisan support in both the House
and Senate. Each year, programs and activities in schools, workplaces, and communities have become more extensive as information and
program ideas have been developed and shared.
Above information provided by National Women's History Project
|
 |
