Women's History Month

March is National Women's History Month. With the purpose of honoring all women, The Evergreen State College GovDocs and Maps department has created this page with the intent of providing a comprehensive (but by no means exhaustive) list of links pertinent to Women's History Month and women's resources. Intersperced with the historical and biographic information are governmental websites, nonprofit organizations, and other resources many patrons may find informative and useful.
National Women's History Month has been celebrated in the United States since 1987.

The following is an exerpt from an article written by Jone Johnson Lewis:

Audre Lorde, noted writer and poet.

"By the 1970s, there was a growing sense by many women that "history" as taught in school - and especially in grade school and high school - was incomplete with attending to "her story" as well. In the United States, calls for inclusion of black Americans and Native Americans helped some women realize that women were invisible in most history courses.

Ethel Barrymore, actress. Original image
location Here.

And so in the 1970s many universities began to include the fields of women's history and the broader field of women's studies. In 1978 in California, the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women began a "Women's History Week" celebration. The week was chosen to coincide with International Women's Day, March 8, first celebrated in 1911 in Europe."

Only three years later, the United States Congress passed a resolution establishing National Women's History Week. In 1987 Congress passed another resolution prolonging the week into an entire month, and thus began National Women's History Month as it is celebrated today.

Even with women's latest acheivements, the status of women in the United States--indeed, around the world--is still far from equal. The Equal Rights Amendment is a prime example of the lingering oppression women face. In 1923, the ERA was introduced to Congress.

Original image location Here

It wasn't until 1972 that it was approved by the majority of Congress; all but three states radified the amendment. It was re-introduced in the 107th Congress three seperate times in S.J.Res.10, H.J.Res.40, and H.Res.98. Still, nothing has come of it.

Today women all around the country band together in organizations created to stop oppression on all fronts. V Day is a global campaign to stop all violence against women and girls. V Day's College Campaign is a world-wide movement where college and university members present benefit productions of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues on or around V Day (February 14th) to raise money for local organizations that are working to stop this violence. This year, students at The Evergreen State College produced The Vagina Monologues, where all proceeds benefited The YWCA and Safeplace in Olympia, Washington.
This is just one example of the action the women and girls are taking to create a safer, better world for their sisters, daughters, brothers, and sons to grow up in.