March is Women's History Month

The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of women whose commitment to nature and the planet have proved invaluable to society.

About Women's History Month

Women's History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 when Congress passed a resolution that authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982 as Women's History Week. Throughout the next five years, Congress continued to pass joint resolutions designating a week in March as such. In 1987, after being petitioned by the National Women's History Project, Congress 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, Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama have issued a series of annual proclamations designating the month of March as Women's History Month. (Adapted from the Law Library of Congress' guide to the legislative history of Women's History Month)

About This Year's Theme

Women's Education and Women's Empowerment

Although women now outnumber men in American colleges nationwide, the reversal of the gender gap is a very recent phenomenon. The fight to learn was a valiant struggle waged by many tenacious women--across years and across cultures--in our country.

Click here for source information.