FORT RUCKER, Ala. (March 13, 2015) -- The Fort Rucker Equal Employment Opportunity Office Special Emphasis Program Committee will host a lunch and learn March 20 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Commons, Bldg. 8950, in honor of National Women's History Month.
The National Women's History Project designated "Weaving the stories of women's lives" as the theme for the 2015 National Women's History Month Observance.
In the United States, Women's History Month traces its beginnings back to the first International Women's Day in 1911. In 1978, the school district of Sonoma, California, participated in Women's History Week, an event designed around the week of March 8 -- International Women's Day.
In 1979, a 15-day conference about women's history was held at Sarah Lawrence College from July 13 until July 29, chaired by historian Gerda Lerner. It was co-sponsored by Sarah Lawrence College, the Women's Action Alliance and the Smithsonian Institution. When its participants learned about the success of the Sonoma County's Women's History Week celebration, they decided to initiate similar celebrations within their own organizations, communities, and school districts. They also agreed to support an effort to secure a National Women's History Week.
In February 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued a presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8, 1980, as National Women's History Week.
The proclamation stated, "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. As Dr. Gerda Lerner has noted, 'Women's History is Women's Right.' It is an essential and indispensable heritage from which we can draw pride, comfort, courage, and long-range vision. I ask my fellow Americans to recognize this heritage with appropriate activities during National Women's History Week, March 2--8, 1980. I urge libraries, schools, and community organizations to focus their observances on the leaders who struggled for equality - Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriet Tubman, and Alice Paul. Understanding the true history of our country will help us to comprehend the need for full equality under the law for all our people. This goal can be achieved by ratifying the 27th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states that 'Equality of Rights under the Law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."
By 1986, 14 states had declared March as Women's History Month. In 1987, after being petitioned by the National Women's History Project, Congress passed Pub. L. 100-9, which 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, U.S. presidents have issued annual proclamations designating the month of March as Women's History Month.
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