What Is Women's History Month, and What Are Its Origins?
March is celebrated as Women's History Month in the U.S., during which time women are honored and recognized for the impact they've made on society throughout history.
The observance is recognized in the U.K. and Australia in March as well, while people in Canada recognize Women's History Month in October.
Women's History Month originally began as an observance of International Women's Day, which falls on March 8 every year. It all started after thousands of women rallied in New York City for better working conditions and the right to vote in 1908, leading members of the Socialist Party to launch an even bigger gathering of suffragists and women rights groups for the first International Women's Day in 1909. By 1911, women in other countries joined the moment and began marching in honor of International Women's Day in Germany, Austria, Denmark and Switzerland.
The holiday didn't receive formal worldwide recognition until the United Nations commemorated the day in 1975. Two years after that, the United Nations gave the date an official recognition by deeming it an international holiday.
As for, Women's History Month in the U.S, it began as a week-long observance in the U.S. after feminist groups noticed the lack of women achievements being taught in school curriculums. One group in Sonoma County, California, presented the idea of Women's History Week in the late 1970s in effort to convince schools to spend more time teaching the impacts of women throughout history, according to the National Women's History Alliance. They timed the observance to International Women's Day events that had already been established by the United Nations.
As the movement grew, so did the call for more official national recognition, leading President Jimmy Carter to establish a National Women's History Week beginning on March 8, 1980.
After that, states started using the month of March to recognize and honor women throughout the whole month, and by 1987, Congress passed legislation officially establishing March as Women's History Month, according to the National Women's History Alliance.
It just so happens that the month of March has full of historical milestones for women, making it a particularly special time to celebrate. It was March 1972 when Title IX, a law against sex discrimination in all federally funded education programs, was established. It was also in March 1972 when the Equal Rights Amendment was passed in the Senate guaranteeing protections of the 19th Amendment to people regardless of their sex. The Women's National Party, a political group dedicated to women's equality and rights that has helped lead the charge for Women's History Month, was also formed in March 1917.
