Women’s History Month is an annual declared month dedicated to celebrating women’s rights, history, and accomplishments. The month has been celebrated since 1908 and was established in 1981. In the 1970s, women’s history month wasn’t talked about as widely in the school curriculum. To combat this issue, the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women initiated a “Women’s History Week” celebration for 1978. The week, starting March 8th, was used to celebrate women’s achievements through presentations in classrooms. This was one of the first steps to having the month be nationally recognized, especially in schools.

In 1980, president Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential proclamation that declared the week of March 8 as Women’s History Week. The U.S. Congress followed the next year, passing a resolution establishing a national celebration. Six years later, the National Women’s History Project successfully petitioned Congress to expand the event to the entire month of March.

Women have done a lot for the United States, however, their contributions often go overlooked. Some of the important women include Sacagawea, Sappho, Marie Wollstonecraft, Isabel de Olvera, and Muna Tseng.

Sacagawea

Sacagawea, a Lemhi Shoshone woman, at age 16 helped translate Native languages during the Lewis and Clark expedition. 

Sappho

Sappho was a Greek Poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. She’s known for her lyric poetry, she was well known and was commonly called the “Tenth Muse” and “The Poetess.”

Marie Wollstonecraft

Marie was an English writer, philosopher, and advocate for women’s rights. She called for the betterment of women’s status through political change as the reform of national educational systems. The change, she concluded, would benefit society.

Isabel de Olvera

Isabel de Olvera was a woman of black and Hispanic heritage in the 16th and 17th centuries. She lived in Querétaro, Mexico, and traveled on the Juan Guerra de Resa expedition to Santa Fe, sent to strengthen the Spanish claim to the colonized province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.

Muna Tseng

Muna is a Chinese-American dancer, choreographer, and writer. In 1984 she founded Muna Tseng Dance Projects in New York City. She created over 40 dance productions and performed in over 30 cities and festivals in 15 countries.