National Women's History Month began as a single week and as a local event.  In 1978, Sonoma County, California, sponsored a women's history week to promote the teaching of women's history—at that time a neglected subject in elementary and high school curriculums.  The week of March 8th was selected to include International Women's Day.  In 1981 Congress passed a resolution making the week a national celebration, and in 1987 expanded it to the full month of March.. Women's History Month serves as a reminder that many of the freedoms taken for granted by women today were not always a given. They were hard-won by courageous women who risked ridicule, and even imprisonment, by confronting society's acceptance of gender inequality.

What is women’s history?

The answer is more than just history with women added. Multicultural women’s history takes a bold new look at all that has gone before and tells the story of women’s shared past from a very different perspective. It does not rewrite history, but it does make very different judgments about what is important to be remembered and who the significant players were.

Women's History Month 2007 Picture Gallery (New!)