Skip to Main Content

Women's History Month

Women's History Month

Women’s History Month began in 1978, as a local celebration in Santa Rosa, California, when the Education Task Force of Sonoma County planned a week-long event to coincide with March 8th (International Women’s Day). Women’s History Month was first recognized as a national celebration in 1981 when the US Congress passed legislation authorizing President Reagan to proclaim the week of March 7, 1982 as “Women’s History Week.” In 1987, the National Women’s History Project petitioned Congress for a month-long designation. Since 1995, the President has issued a series of proclamations designating March as “Women’s History Month."

The theme for 2024 is "Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion" which recognizes women who actively work to eliminate bias and discrimination in order to foster equity and inclusion (National Women's History Alliance).  

Learn more
Sources: US Government site, National Women’s History Museum, & National Women’s History Alliance

Recommended Ebooks

Women's History Films

Driving with Selvi: The Story of India’s First Female Taxi Driver

Driving with Selvi: The Story of India’s First Female Taxi Driver

Resisting a violent and abusive marriage, Selvi embarks on a journey to become India’s first female taxi driver. This film tracks Selvi’s 10-year transformation from a timid, soft-spoken 18-year old to a confident entrepreneur leading seminars to empower and educate other women.

Roxane Gay

Roxane Gay

As a quiet child of Haitian immigrants, Roxane Gay transcended all expectations and     became a leading voice in the modern feminist movement with her essay collection, Bad     Feminist. But how did she transform a painful childhood into a powerful battle cry and a successful career that would end up helping women around the world?

Young Lakota

Young Lakota

This documentary follows “Cecilia Fire Thunder, the first female President of the Oglala Sioux tribe [as she defies] a proposed South Dakota law criminalizing all abortion by threatening to build a women’s clinic on the sovereign territory of the reservation. Her threats ignite a political firestorm that sets off a chain reaction in the lives of three young Lakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation, forcing each of them to make choices that define who they are and what kind of adults they will become.”

I Was a Teenage Feminist

I Was a Teenage Feminist

Why is it that some young, independent, progressive women in today’s society feel uncomfortable identifying with the F-word? Filmmaker Therese Schecter uses irreverent humor to explore whether feminism can still be a source of personal and political power in today’s society.

Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present

Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present

This film follows Marina Abramovic as she prepares for a retrospective of her work at the Museum of Modern Art. Seductive, fearless, and outrageous, Abramovic has been redefining what art is for over 40 years. Using her own body as a vehicle, pushing herself beyond her limits and at times risking her life in the process, she creates performances that have challenge, shock, and move us.

A Thousand Mothers: Buddhist Nuns in Myanmar

A Thousand Mothers: Buddhist Nuns in Myanmar

“Set in an ancient nunnery above the majestic Irrawaddy River, this film is an unprecedented look at the lives of Buddhist nuns in Sagaing, Myanmar. While the choices available to girls and women in Myanmar are quite limited...this film reveals the opportunities offered to them at the nunnery, and the deep grace and dignity of a life dedicated to service.”

Additional Resources

American Mosaic: Women's History in the United States

Women’s History in the United States is the newest American Mosaic database, resources include primary sources and topic overviews exploring women’s contributions, perspectives, and challenges from precontact times to the present.

League of Women Voters

The League of Women Voters in the United States encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

Women of Color and the Fight for Women's Suffrage

Links to exhibits, articles, videos, and timelines as well as a small snapshot of some of the suffragist heroines we don’t always get to see or celebrate.

National Women's History Museum

The NWHM is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational institution dedicated to the preservation, interpretation, and celebration of the diverse contributions women have made to society.

Women's Liberation Movement Print Culture

Manifestos, speeches, essays, and other materials documenting various aspects of the Women’s Movement in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s.

Women's Media Center

A progressive, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to raise the visibility, viability, and decision-making power of women and girls in media.

The Lemonade Syllabus

A bibliography of readings by Black poets, writers, and other scholars to help unpack Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s Lemonade visual album.

Office of the Gender and Women’s Studies Librarian (UW-Madison)

One of the premier resources for support of gender, women’s studies, and LGBT studies scholarship.