DIVERSITY MAKES AMERICA GREAT! Photo of Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat to ride in the back of the bus.
“No self-respecting woman should wish or work for the success of a party who ignores her sex.” Quote by Susan B. Anthony
Come to the SUHI Library to check out biographies about famous women like Susan B. Anthony who fought for women to get the right to vote or current women who are making a difference like Malala. In Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai, a 15-year-old schoolgirl and campaigner for girls’ education, brought worldwide attention to the issue of discrimination and violence against women in 2012. That year, she survived a murder attempt by the Taliban, a militant Islamic group that had banned girls in her district from attending school. In 2014, Yousafzai won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work. Excerpt from World Book Online Women’s History Month.
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According to World Book Online, Women’s History Month is an annual observance of women’s achievements and contributions to society. It is celebrated in March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, where it coincides with International Women’s Day (March 8). It is celebrated in October in Canada, where it coincides with Persons Day (October 18).
In the 1970’s, women historians in the United States increased their focus on the contributions of women throughout history. In 1978, a school district in Sonoma County, California, organized a Women’s History Week to promote the teaching of women’s history. School officials chose the week of March 8 to include International Women’s Day. That event was first celebrated in Europe in the early 1900’s. Women’s History Week was so popular that in 1981, the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution requesting the president to make the week a country-wide celebration beginning in 1982.
Over the next five years, Congress continued to pass joint resolutions designating a week in March as Women’s History Week. In 1987, after receiving a petition from the National Women’s History Project, Congress passed a public law that designated the month of March 1987 as Women’s History Month. From 1988 to 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions authorizing the president to proclaim March of each year Women’s History Month. Since 1995, each U.S. president has issued annual proclamations to that effect.
Women’s History Month has been celebrated in March in Australia since 2000, and in the United Kingdom, since 2011. In Canada, Women’s History Month has been celebrated in October since 1992. It coincides with a commemoration of the Persons Case. The case involved a legal decision on Oct. 18, 1929, that changed the political status of Canadian women (see Famous Five).
Some other countries celebrate a similar month dedicated to women’s achievements. For example, the Philippines celebrates a Women’s Month in March. South Africa commemorates a women’s protest march that took place in August 1956 with Women’s Day on August 9 and Women’s Month in August each year.
See also Women’s movement (A new wave of women’s movements).
Contributor:
Melanie S. Gustafson, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History, University of Vermont.
How to cite this article:
To cite this article, World Book recommends the following format:
MLA:
Gustafson, Melanie S. “Women’s History Month.” World Book Student. World Book, 2017. Web. 27 Feb. 2017.
APA:
Gustafson, M. S. (2017). Women’s History Month. In World Book student. Retrieved from
http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar755571
Library Students: Please write two paragraphs about one female that has impacted your life in a positive way. You can write about a teacher. Please get approval for a family member. You can do research on a historical figure by using an online database like World Book, ProQuest or Ebscohosts. Do not Google it! If you research a historical woman—tell us about her contributions and print a picture, too! We can display your work in the library as a tribute to Women’s History Month!
During the Golden Age of Hollywood, Audrey Hepburn gained fame through her beauty, elegance, poise, and gracious charm. She was an influential woman both on and off the silver screen. After 15 years of acting in her reign in film, Audrey Hepburn devoted her time working with The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), a nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries. She was appointed as a special ambassador to UNICEF and became actively involved in campaigns to improve conditions for children around the world.
Soon after becoming a UNICEF ambassador, Hepburn went on a mission to Ethiopia, where years of drought and civil strife had caused terrible famine. In the years that followed, Hepburn made a series of UNICEF field trips, visiting a polio vaccine project in Turkey, training programs for women in Venezuela, projects for children living and working on the street in Ecuador, projects to provide drinking water in Guatemala and Honduras and radio literacy projects in El Salvador. She saw schools in Bangladesh, projects for impoverished children in Thailand, nutrition projects in Vietnam and camps for displaced children in Sudan. Hepburn also worked tirelessly for UNICEF when not making field trips. She testified before the US Congress, took part in the World Summit for Children, launched UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children reports, hosted Danny Kaye International Children’s Award ceremonies, designed fundraising cards, participated in benefit concert tours and gave many speeches and interviews promoting UNICEF’s work. Overall, Audrey Hepburn was an influential woman of her time that impacted the lives of many people who live in impoverished communities around the world and her legacy continue to lives on through UNICEF.
One female that impacted life in a positive way is Margaret Sanger, a trained nurse, and the first woman to help lead the birth control movement in the United States during the early 20th century. At that time, the distribution of birth control was illegal, however, many social reformers supported birth control. With the support from earlier Women Movements such as the movement for Women Suffrage, Margaret Sanger believed that the issue on birth control could be solved.
Furthermore, the support for birth control was high among many social reformers. Most women who supported the right for birth control believed it would have positive impacts on their life and future. Women would be able to have fun without having to worry about giving birth to children. Moreover, social reformers believed that another positive outcome for having birth control is that it would be a way to help relieve poverty. Consequently, without birth control, Women wouldn’t have their right to choose whether if they want to have children and a family or not.
Before the women’s movement women never had equal rights as men throughout history. Women’s only centered role as a wife and mother is the households. Women were always put down and faced through hardship of men being superior than women.
The first women’s movement started in the 1800’s in the U.S. and Europe; the industrial age; brought great economy and political changes that lead and caused women to questioned their status. Women wanted to achieve better social, economic, and political involvement for women.
A female that has impacted me in a positive way is Dorothy Height. She was an African-American leader of the civil rights and women’s movement in the U.S. Born in March 24, 1912,Richmond, Virginia. After Height graduated from high school, she became a leader of the United Christian Youth Movement of North America. She also was president of the National Council of Negro from 1957 to 1997.
For me, this is very inspiring, considering that she was a African American women in the 1950’s. Including the fact that she earned a bachelors in education and a masters in educational psychology. What is also admiring is that she received 36 honorary doctorate degrees from Tuskegee, Harvard and Princeton University. In 1994 what was also amazing his she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She also received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.Which is impressive, considering that they are the two medals of the nation’s highest honors awarded to civilians. That is why she inspires me in a positive way, if she can do it, considering her history, then i can sure do it. she earned so much in her life dispite being a women and an African-American. ——- Anahi Valdes Period 4
One woman that has made an impact in my life is Helen Keller. Helen Keller was born in the late 1800’s and during her time, she has suffered an illness that has left her both blind and deaf. Even though she has lived with this illness her whole entire life, she still managed to communicate with others. It wasn’t all that easy for Helen, but that didn’t stop her from accomplishing her goals.
How she has impacted my life is because she inspired me to fulfill my own ambitions. Helen has had the chance to make it into college and overall become a successful person and that is the reason why she has influenced me to try my best to do what I want to do in the future. I understand that life wasn’t easy for her, but that didn’t prevent her from doing things that others assumed she couldn’t. If she can do it, so can I. – Jada, period 4
http://www.biography.com