NATIONAL WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

 

The National Park Service proudly commemorates Women's History Month throughout March and welcomes everyone to help celebrate and learn about women's achievements and contributions to our Nation. With the theme of "Women’s Education-Women’s Empowerment,” the National Park Service presents a series of exhibits, programs and events that are directly connected to and support this theme and concept.  Learning about women's tenacity, courage, and creativity throughout the centuries is a tremendous source of strength for all. This calendar of events presents highlights of efforts that National Park Service staff has created to enrich and detail the work performed at the many sites listed that complete the unique sphere of women's history.   

 

 

 

 

March Highlights in U.S. Women's History

 

•      March 1, 1978- Women's History Week is first observed in Sonoma County , California

•      March 1, 1987- A Congressional resolution designating March as Women's History Month is passed

 

•      March 4, 1917- Jeannette Rankin (R-MT) took her seat as the first female member of Congress

•      March 8 -International Women's Day; its origins trace back to protests in US and Europe to honor and fight for the political rights for working women

 

•      March 11, 1993- Janet Reno is confirmed as the first woman U.S. Attorney General

•      March 12, 1912 - Juliette Gordon Low assembled 18 girls together in Savannah , Georgia for the first-ever Girl Scout meeting

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•      March 13, 1986 -Susan Butcher won the first of 3 straight and 4 total Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Races in Alaska

 

•      March 17, 1910-Camp Fire Girls is established as the first American interracial, non-sectarian organization for girls

 

•      March 20, 1852- Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," is published and becomes the best-selling book of the 19th century

 

•      March 21, 1986- Debi Thomas becomes first African American woman to win the World Figure Skating Championship

 

•      March 23, 1917- Virginia Woolf establishes the Hogarth Press with her husband, Leonard Woolf

•      March 31, 1888- The National Council of Women of the U.S. is organized by Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, Julia Ward Howe, and Sojourner Truth, among others; it is the oldest non-sectarian women's organization in U.S.

 

•      March 31, 1776- Abigail Adams writes to her husband John who is helping to frame the Declaration of Independence: "Remember the ladies..."

 

 

March Birthdays

  • March 3, 1962 - Jackie Joyner-Kersee, considered the world's greatest female athlete; holds the record in the long jump (1988) and the heptathlon (1986); winner of 3 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze medals in 4 Olympic games.

 

•       March 5, 1931 - Geraldyn (Jerrie) Cobb, record-setting aviator; first woman to pass qualifying exams for astronaut training, in 1959, but not allowed to train because of her gender

 

•       March 7, 1938 - Janet Guthrie, pioneering woman auto racer; first woman to compete in Indianapolis 500 (1977) and Daytona 500 (1977)

 

•       March 9, 1928 (1987) - Graciela Olivarez, Chicana activist; first woman and Latina law graduate from Notre Dame Law School; one of first two women on the board of Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF)

 

•       March 15, 1933 - Ruth Bader Ginsburg, second female U.S. Supreme Court justice (1993)

 

•       March 18, 1964 - Bonnie Blair, speed skater; one of the most successful Winter Olympian in U.S. history and 5 time gold medalist

 

•       March 23, 1857 (1915) - Fannie Farmer, authored famous cookbook, "The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook", and included specific ingredient measurements for the first time which would become standardized cooking measurements

 

•       March 23, 1924 (1980) - Bette Nesmith Graham, invented Liquid Paper correction fluid which  became an office staple; created 2 foundations to support women's business/ art

 

•       March 24, 1826 (1898) - Matilda Joslyn Gage, suffragist, women's rights and Native American rights activist, historian, founding member of the National Woman Suffrage Association

 

•       March 24, 1912 (2010) - Dorothy Height, served over 40 years as President of the National Council of Negro Women

 

•       March 25, 1934 - Gloria Steinem, women's rights activist and journalist; founding editor of Ms. Magazine; helped found National Women's Political Caucus, the Women's Action Alliance, and the Coalition of Labor Union Women

 

•       March 26, 1930 - Sandra Day O'Connor, first woman U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1981)

 

•       March 27, 1924 (1990) - Sarah Vaughan, world renown jazz singer and pianist known as the "Divine One"

 

•       March 31, 1889 (1975) - Muriel Wright, Choctaw Indian, teacher, historian, author, and editor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Women's History Sites under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service (This is not an all inclusive listing):

 

Clara Barton National Historic Site, Glen Echo, Maryland

Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, Hyde Park, New York

Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site, Richmond, Virginia

Mary McLeod Bethune Council House, National Historic Site, Washington D.C.

Sewall-Belmont House National Historic Site, Washington D.C.

Women's Rights National Historic Park, Seneca Falls, New York

 

 

 

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH -A National Register of Historic Places Feature visit www.cr.nps.gov/nr/feature/wom .

 

 

Heritage news - www.nps.gov/history/womenhistory/index.htm

 

Listing of statues to visit in honor of women within the Washington metro area:

 Ester Morris, Wyoming's "Mother of Women's Suffrage," U.S. Capitol Building

 Frances Willard, temperance activist, U.S. Capitol Building

 Grief, the Adams Memorial, Rock Creek Cemetery, Rock Creek Church Rd., N.W.

 Jane A. Delano, American Red Cross Headquarters, 17th & E St. N.W.

 Joan of Arc, Meridian Hill Park, 16th & Euclid Street, N.W.

 Jeanette Rankin, first female member of Congress, U.S. Capitol Building

 Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial, Lincoln Park, 13th & East Capitol Street, S.E.

 Negro Women and Child, Courtyard, Dept. of Interior, 18th & C Street, N.W.

 Nuns of the Battlefield, 17th & M Street, N.W.

The Suffrage Movement, U.S. Capitol Building

Vietnam Women's Memorial, 21st & Constitution Ave. N.W.

Women in the Military Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery

 

 

 

For information on Women's History sites outside of the metropolitan area, please contact the National Park Service Office of Public Inquiries at 202-208-4747.

 

Please contact the Smithsonian Institution on major Smithsonian programs related to Women’s History at 202-357-2700.

 

Dates and times are subject to change; please verify information before attending any programs by calling the park or Calendar Editor, Toni Braxton at 202-619-7222. All events are FREE unless otherwise noted.

 

 

This Calendar of Events was compiled as a courtesy of:

 

National Capital Region

Office of Communications

Calendar Editor: Toni Braxton

1100 Ohio Drive SW

Washington, DC

202-619-7222

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated: 2/29/12