Women's History Month

Women's History Month is an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. It is celebrated during March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with International Women's Day on March 8, and during October in Canada, corresponding with the celebration of Persons Day on October 18.

In the United States
In the United States, Women's History Month traces its beginnings back to the first International Women's Day in 1911. In 1978, the school district of Sonoma, California participated in Women's History Week, an event designed around the week of March 8 (International Women's Day). In 1979 a fifteen-day conference about women's history was held at Sarah Lawrence College from July 13 until July 29, chaired by historian Gerda Lerner. It was co-sponsored by Sarah Lawrence College, the Women's Action Alliance, and the Smithsonian Institution. When its participants learned about the success of the Sonoma County's Women's History Week celebration, they decided to initiate similar celebrations within their own organizations, communities, and school districts. They also agreed to support an effort to secure a National Women's History Week.

In February 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued a presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8, 1980, as National Women's History Week. The proclamation stated, "From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well. As Dr. Gerda Lerner has noted, 'Women’s History is Women’s Right.' It is an essential and indispensable heritage from which we can draw pride, comfort, courage, and long-range vision. I ask my fellow Americans to recognize this heritage with appropriate activities during National Women’s History Week, March 2–8, 1980. I urge libraries, schools, and community organizations to focus their observances on the leaders who struggled for equality - Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriet Tubman, and Alice Paul. Understanding the true history of our country will help us to comprehend the need for full equality under the law for all our people. This goal can be achieved by ratifying the 27th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states that 'Equality of Rights under the Law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.'" Carter was referring to the Equal Rights Amendment, which was never ratified, not to the amendment which did become the 27th Amendment to the United States Constitution after his presidency.

In 1981, responding to the growing popularity of Women's History Week, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Rep Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland) co-sponsored the first Joint Congressional Resolution proclaiming a Women's History Week. Congress passed their resolution as [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-95/pdf/STATUTE-95-Pg148.pdf Pub. L. 97-28], which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982 as “Women’s History Week." Throughout the next several years, Congress continued to pass joint resolutions designating a week in March as Women’s History Week. Schools across the country also began to have their own local celebrations of Women's History Week and even Women's History Month. By 1986, fourteen states had declared March as Women's History Month.

In 1987, after being petitioned by the National Women's History Project, Congress passed [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-101/pdf/STATUTE-101-Pg99.pdf Pub. L. 100-9] which designated the month of March 1987 as Women’s History Month. Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions requesting and authorizing the President to proclaim March of each year as Women’s History Month. Since 1995, U.S. presidents have issued annual proclamations designating the month of March as Women’s History Month.

State departments of education also began to encourage celebrations of Women's History Month as a way to promote equality among the sexes in the classroom. Maryland, Pennsylvania, Alaska, New York, Oregon, and other states developed and distributed curriculum materials in all of their public schools, which prompted educational events such as essay contests. Within a few years, thousands of schools and communities began to celebrate Women's History Month. They planned engaging and stimulating programs about women's roles in history and society, with support and encouragement from governors, city councils, school boards, and the U.S. Congress.

In March 2011, the Barack Obama administration released a report, Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being, showing women's status in the U.S. in 2011 and how it had changed over time. This report was the first comprehensive federal report on women since the report produced by the Commission on the Status of Women in 1963.

In Canada
Women's History Month was proclaimed in Canada in 1992, where its purpose is to give Canadians "an opportunity to learn about the important contributions of women and girls to our society – and to the quality of our lives today". October was chosen to coincide with the celebration of the anniversary on October 18 of the decision of the court case Edwards v. Canada, more commonly known as the Persons Case, in which it was established that Canadian women were eligible to be appointed senators and in general had the same rights as Canadian men with respect to positions of political power.

In Australia
Women's History Month was first celebrated in Australia in 2000, initiated by Helen Leonard, convenor of the National Women's Media Centre, working with the Women's Electoral Lobby. The organisation of annual Women's History Month celebrations is incorporated as part of the work of the Australian Women's History Forum.

Famous women who loved women

 * Sarah Jewett (1849-1909): Jewett never married, but was involved in a "Boston marriage" with fellow writer Annie Fields for several years.
 * Ethel Smyth (1858-1944): Smyth, a composer and suffragette, described her sexuality as an "everlasting puzzle."
 * Jane Addams (1860-1935): Addams, who founded the innovative settlement Hull House in 1889, was an early champion of women's rights. Her relationship with Mary Rozet Smith lasted 40 years.
 * Mary Emma Woolley (1863-1947) and Jeannette Marks (1875-1964): Woolley, the president of Mt. Holyoke College from 1900-1937, met Professor Jeannette Augustus Marks while they were both teaching at Wellesley College. The two remained in a relationship for fifty-five years.
 * Willa Cather (1873-1947): Cather had long-term relationships with at least two women, cohabiting with Isabelle McClung in Pittsburgh and Edith Lewis in New York City. Her writing explores shifting gender dynamics that Jonathan Goldberg argues might reflect her personal experiences.
 * Radclyffe Hall (1880-1943): Hall, best known for her novel "The Well Of Loneliness," spent 28 years with her partner Una Troubridge.
 * Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962) and Virginia Woolf (1882-1941): English author and gardener Sackville-West had a passionate affair with Virginia Woolf. The pair's intimate letters to each other have been preserved and published.
 * Josephine Baker (1906-1975): The famous entertainer and dancer was married four times, but had numerous affairs with women. One of her sons, Jean-Claude, recalled that his mother had many "lady lovers."
 * Gladys Bentley (1907-1960): The African-American blues singer reported having feelings for women in her early childhood, and used themes of gender in her musical performance. She participated in a marriage ceremony with her white female lover in the 1930s.
 * Frida Kahlo (1907-1954): Kahlo had extramarital affairs with both men and women. Some sources report that her female lovers included Josephine Baker and Georgia O'Keeffe.
 * Audre Lorde (1934-1992): Lorde, a writer and activist, published fifteen books during her lifetime. Lorde had two children with her husband, Edwin Rollins, but they divorced in 1970. During her time at Tougaloo College, Lorde met her partner of many years, Frances Clayton.
 * Billie Jean King (1943- ): Professional tennis player Billie Jean King began an affair with her female secretary, which became public during her divorce. She was the first prominent female athlete known to be a homosexual.