 Way Back When
Women's History Month
published: March 2008
By Sheri Collins, Contributing Writer
Email Author
Way back when in 1978, the Sonoma County, California, school district started Women's History Week to promote the teaching of women's history. Prior to then, women weren't really included in the history books. The committee chose the week of March 8 to
coincide with International Women's Day.
The activities became very popular, and soon many other school districts adopted the program. Within a few years, schools across the country were celebrating Women's
History Week, and in 1981, the U.S. Congress made it a national week of celebration. In 1987 Congress declared the entire month of March National Women's History Month. The theme for 2008 is Women's Art: Women's Vision.
These celebrations have helped highlight the important roles women have played in the history of our country and sparked interest in learning more. This interest lead to the opening of the first-ever national womens history museum, in Dallas, Texas. "The Women's Museum: An Institute for the Future" pays tribute to women of the past and present, and runs Girlstart, a program that encourages young women to consider working in math, science and computer technology.
Women's History Month ensures that school children will be taught the facts about important contributions women have made throughout history, such as:
The first woman to run for president was Victoria Woodhull in 1872.
Toni Morrison was the first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Elizabeth Blackwell, the first licensed woman doctor in the U.S, was turned down by 29 medical schools before being accepted as a student. She graduated at the head of her class.
Charlie Parkhurst drove a stagecoach across the roughest part of the West without anyone knowing until she died that she was a woman.
Nancy Lopez has repeatedly been the leading money winner in the Ladies Professional Golf Association.
For more information on amazing women, read this month's Kidsville News! "How Does That Work" article on women inventors in this paper or on www.kidsvillenews.com.
Sheri Collins is a contributing writer for Kidsville News!
Sources: National Women's History Project, www.nwhp.org; Time for Kids, www.timeforkids.com.
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