Women’s History Month

In 1987, Congress passed the Public Law 100-9, which declared the month of March as Women’s History Month. Every year since, March has been dedicated to acknowledging women’s contributions throughout history. 

According to Wikipedia, Women’s History Month originally started with a Women’s History Week, centered around International Women’s Day(March 8). It started with the school district of Sonoma, California, which then led to a 15 day conference at Sarah Lawrence College, which then inspired other celebrations.

The newfound success with Women’s History Week, reached the government and in 1981, Congress passed Public Law 97-28, which declared the week beginning March 7, as Women’s History Month. Finally in 1987, Congress passed the law that turned March into Women’s History Month.

In 1903, the Women’s Social and Political Union, as known as WSPU, was founded by Emmeline Pankhurst and Christabel Pankhurst, with the purpose of convincing the government to grant women the right to vote. In 1908, the WSPU adopted purple, green, and white as their official colors, which are still associated with the Women’s Suffrage movement today. 

In a Wikipedia article titled, Women’s Social and Political Union, it states that these colors were picked by Emmeline because, “Purple…stands for the royal blood that flows in the veins of every suffragette…white stands for purity in private and public life…green is the colour of hope and the emblem of spring.”

Because of the pandemic this year, there aren’t many events going on in the Greendale area, but there was a livestream titled Breaking Through Barriers: A Conversation with Leaders in Community, that was hosted by Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. It was a free event, which took place on Tuesday, March 23.

There was also a Women’s History Month Vigil, which took place on March 30th, at Marquette University. The description on google reads, “Come together to honor and celebrate the end of Women’s History Month with a Vigil ceremony honoring all the women who have passed.”

As the years past, it is still gravely important to recognize the accomplishments and achievements women over the course of history have accomplished. In a History article titled Women’s History Month, it explains why celebrating and acknowledging Women’s History Month is so important and why we should continue to do it, “Women’s History Month is a dedicated month to reflect on the often-overlooked contributions of women to United States history. From Abigail Adams to Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth to Rosa Parks, the timeline of women’s history milestones stretches back to the founding of the United States.”