Women’s History Month
The Chickasha Public Library will celebrate Women’s History month with a display from the National Archives celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. The Nineteenth Amendment prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex.
Humble Beginnings
Women’s History Month began as Women’s History Week in 1978 when the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women planned and executed a “Women’s History Week” celebration in California. They chose the week of March 8th to honor International Women’s Day. Two years later the National Women’s History Project for national recognition and President Jimmy Carter declared the week of March 2-8 1980, as National Women’s History Week.
“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.” -Jimmy Carter, 1980
In 1987 the month of March was declared Women’s History Month through the efforts of the National Women’s History Project, now known as the National Women’s History Alliance (NWHA). Each year the NWHA chooses a theme for Women’s History Month and organizes celebrations on the theme. The 2020 theme is “Valiant Women of the Vote” to celebrate the centennial of the 19th amendment and the women of the original suffrage movement and all women who have continued to fight to ensure fair voting rights for all.