Women’s History Month
Women’s History Month focuses on commemorating and encouraging the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history.
Description & History
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The observance of began with the first International Women's Day celebrated in 1911. In 1978, the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women launched “Women’s History Week” encompassing the date of International Women’s Day March 8, to address the lack of women’s history in the K-12 curriculum. The celebration spread and grew in popularity causing President Jimmy Carter to proclaim the first Women’s History Week in 1980. In 1987, the celebration grew to the entire month of March when Congress passed . From 1988 to 1994 Congress passed resolutions authorizing the President to proclaim the month of March as Women’s History Month and since 1995 the month has been proclaimed annually.
Professional Learning Resources
In this Knowledge Quest post, blogger Connie Williams shares videos and primary sources focusing on the perceptions of women and work throughout history and gives examples of how the resources can be used with learners.
This website from The Library of Congress includes a large collection of resources for teachers from government agencies and organizations including, National Gallery of Art, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, among others.
This article from Live Your Dream overviews 15 ways everyone can celebrate Women’s History Month from expanding our own knowledge, hosting local events, supporting women-owned businesses, to showing support on social media.
Teach about the challenges and accomplishments of women throughout history with these lessons, activities, background reading, and more from the NEA.
Learner Engagement Resources
KQ Blogger Leanne Ellis shares her experience working with the Women and the American Story Curriculum (WAMS) created by the New York Historical Society (NHS). She shares ways to examine life stories and social change, along with lessons plans.
Use the story of Jess Wade to launch a look at Wikipedia as a source for information, the writing criteria for editors, and the work that needs to be done to tell the stories of women and underrepresented groups.
Need primary sources for the month? Begin with the Library of Congress Free to Use and Reuse collection.
