Happy Women’s History Month!

Here’s to you, ladies — we wouldn’t be here without you.

Happy Women’s History Month! For the entire month of March, we get to celebrate women’s contributions to art, science, math, literature — essentially, all of culture and society.

 

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This honorary month actually has its roots in local celebrations! It developed from a 1978 weeklong celebration of women’s contributions by the school district of Sonoma, California. During that first week of celebrations, presentations were given, a parade was held, and hundreds of students participated in an essay contest.

After the success of the first celebration, other local communities began to latch onto the idea. The first federal recognition, however, came from Jimmy Carter in 1980 when he declared the week of March 8 National Women’s History Week via presidential proclamation.

The proclaimed event started to become more permanent in 1981 when Congress passed a law authorizing the President to proclaim the celebrated week in March as Women’s History Week. The week was honored for the following five years until 1987, when the National Women’s History Project petitioned Congress for a whole month. Because of their actions, a law was passed in 1987 designating that specific year’s month of March as Women’s History Month.

But Women’s History Month didn’t end in 1987. Instead, Congress continued to pass resolutions until 1994 authorizing the President to proclaim the honorary month each March. While there haven’t been formal resolutions passed since 1994, Presidents — including Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Barack Obama — have put out series of proclamations marking March as Women’s History Month.

Today, we celebrate Women’s History Month by looking back at all the incredible women who have made strides for our community. And there are so many — those who represent us on TV, those who work to keep us safe, and those who shatter expectations. No matter what it is they’ve done, I think we can all agree that women are just amazing, and they deserve this month. Here’s to you, ladies — we wouldn’t be here without you.


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