About Women's History Month

Every year, the month of March is designated Women’s History Month by Presidential proclamation. The month is dedicated to honoring women’s contributions in American history.

It all began with a group of female activists in Sonoma County, California, who took issue with the way history books largely left out the story of women in America and set out to change the local school curriculum. They decided to create a “Women’s History Week” in 1978, timed around International Women’s Day, which the U.N. had started marking in 1975. The week of events celebrating the accomplishments of American women over history was such a success that the idea spread to communities across the country.

As a result, a consortium of women’s groups and historians lobbied for a nation-wide observation, and in February, 1980, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed the week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week, saying “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.” President Ronald Reagan passed further proclamations announcing Women’s History Weeks, but by 1986 several states had already extended their celebrations for a month. The Women’s National History Project (now the National Women’s History Alliance) then lobbied for a longer observation, and in 1987 Congress passed a proclamation establishing Women’s History Month.

Each year, the NWHA decides the theme of the celebration. 2020 is “Valiant Women of the Vote,” in recognition of the centennial of the 19th Amendment. We at START TV are celebrating National Women’s Month by honoring some of the women who have so graciously shared their own stories of making history, in one way or another, with us.

Each day this month, we will feature the remarkable start stories of women from all walks of life.