Honoring Women
From week’s worth of recognition to an entire month! In 1978 the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (CA) Commission on the Status of Women began a "Women's History Week" celebration. The week was chosen to coincide with International Women's Day (March 8) which began in Europe in 1911.
The response to that initial celebration was so positive; the Commission participants took it on the road and shared their project at the Sarah Lawrence College Women's History Institute. With that, a movement began and three short years later Congress established National Women's History Week.
But a week really isn’t long enough to reflect on all that 50 percent of the population has done over the course of time, so in 1987, at the request of the National Women's History Project, Congress expanded the week to a month. Every year since then the U.S. U.S. President has issued a formal proclamation declaring March as Women's History Month.
At its very core, these movements enabled the creation of IWF. In return IWF has been enabled to support multiple projects to further the advancement of girls and women such as the program, What We Think – a survey project conducted by young women associated with the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of Central Iowa. The survey assessed the attitudes and experiences of adolescent girls, providing an opportunity to employ practical skills and understand long-term social impact.
(Contributed by Sarah Hankel)
