Women’s Importance In History and Present Times
INTRODUCTION
Women serve an incredible role in the past, present, and our future of our world, and we love to recognize that. Because — like Beyoncé side — who run the world? (GIRLS)!
In the United States, Women’s history month (or WHM for short) was established in 1987, and is observed in the month of March in reflection of the many women who paved the way to equal rights and accomplishments that we appreciate in modern America. From the suffragette movement and its subsequent 19th amendment, to Rosa Parks and other influential women of the Civil Rights movement, women have made amazing foundational changes to our nation.
ORIGINS OF WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
WHM started with humble beginnings in Sonoma County (just above San Fransisco, California). Led by local U.S. history teacher Molly Murphy McGregor, the Education Task Force of Sonoma County Commision held a week long observance of what they coined “Women's History Week '' the week of March 8th, 1978, in correspondence with the established International Womens day. The festivities of this initial event included parading the town of Santa Rosa and essay submissions honoring influential women. Soon gaining traction among other school districts and local activism groups, McGregor -Alongside fellow feminists Mary Ruthsdotter, Maria Cuevas, Paula Hammett, and Bette Morgan- co-founded the National Women’s History Project (later known as the National Women’s History Alliance) a short two years later in 1980.
Influencing the nation, Sarah Lawrence College became one of, if not the first institutions to observe the growing celebration, introducing the 15 day long women’s history conference in 1979. Women soon began to lobby for the week of the 8th to be recognized as a national holiday. This uproar soon found success as president of the time, Jimmy Carter issued a presidential statement declaring the week of the 8th to be nationally known as Womens History week.
Within just six years of Carter's announcement of Womens History week, 14 states had turned this celebration of great minds into a month-long event. Just one short year after, in 1987, less than a decade after the inception of Womens History week, congress declared the month of March as Womens History Month.
In today's era, we see the month's reverence still growing in traction. Many school districts and undergraduate schools have created curriculum which centers the blossoming minds and social actions of women in the nation. Parades and events are often held, with new growth in homage coming each year, for example Marquette University hosting a “vigil” marking a grievance of the month’s closure.
HOW TO SUPPORT
Women’s History Month is meant to display the great minds of amazing women, and thus, March is the perfect time to show your support! But no matter the month, it’s important to support these amazing women! One can find small women-owned businesses in the area, or see if their city is having a Women’s celebratory parade or event. Other great ideas include donating to nonprofits which support women (such as giving sanitary napkins to homeless women, helping get young girls education in other nations, or funding a local reproductive health clinic), or writing letters to your local city or state representatives to address current women’s issues that need to be addressed. Regardless, Womens History Month is a time of celebration, so cherish the amazing women in your life!
INFLUENTIAL FIGURES
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton: American social reformers, Anthony and Stanton pioneered the then England-centric Suffragette movement in the U.S. The two collaborated in many womens rights movements including The New York Women's State Temperance Society, the Women's Loyal National League, American Equal Rights Association, The Revolution newspaper, National Woman Suffrage Association. The pair later proposed to congress with a possible amendment, one which would give women the rights to vote, which would later be ratified as the nineteenth amendment.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton also had many independent endevors, including being the primary author of the Declaration of Sentiments from her organized Seneca Falls Convention, as well as being credited for The Womens Bible and the first three volumes of History of Women’s Suffrage, the latter of the two being a collaborative effort with Anthony and Matila Joslyn Gage.
Rosa Parks: Known for her influence in the civil rights movement, Parks is revered for her act of defiance in refusing to leave her seat on a bus for a white man. Parks also retained importance within the many womens rights issues of the time, and while working in a secretary position for NAACP (The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) she was known for her work in the investigation of the kidnapping assault of activist and black woman Recy Taylor. Her work later led Parks to continue her anti-assault advocacy as she spearheaded protests in the following years.
Frances Perkins: This workers-rights advocate is known in modern day as the first woman to serve in the presidential cabinet. Perkins worked as the United States secretary of Labor under president Franklin Roosevelt. Within her role in cabinet, she founded the Immigration and naturalization service, and following her leaving the cabinet, Perkins went on to serve the United States Civil Service Commission under president Truman.
Sandra Day O’Connor: The late Sandra Day O’Conner was the first woman appointed as U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and served for over 20 years. Within her career, O’Connor broke the rigid cast women were placed in, entering Stanford at 16 years old before graduating Magna Cum Laude before entering their law program of which she was in the top 10%. Despite the challenges of struggling to break in the Lawyer industry, O’Connor made her way to the top of the chain, and is now revered for her work in defending the unequal pay wages, workforce gender discrimination, protection of abortion rights, and even addressing a lack of womens washrooms.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The late Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court was known primarily for her protection in office for gender equality and abortion rights.
Kamala Harris: The current vice president of the U.S. broke history three times in being sworn in: The first women vice president, the first African-American vice president, and the first Asian-American vice president.
RESOURCES
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/introduction-womens-history-month
https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/womens-history-us-timeline
https://nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org/womens-history-month-history/
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/womens-history-month