March is Women's History Month in the United States. It started in 1980 when President Jimmy Carter declared the week of March 2- 8th as National Women's History Week. You can read his full statement below.
In this video you can learn how this week came about, and then transitioned to a full month.
The history of women and their contributions to society is a vast topic. The theme for March 2021 is "Valiant Women of the Vote: Refusing to be Silenced." In a later blog post I will provide specific resources for this topic, however in this initial post I want to focus on two high quality, reliable website resources for you to use. I also have included links to articles that provide a great overview to this month's importance and evolution. Direct links to teaching resources and lesson plans are provided. Check back throughout the month for further blogs highlighting specific books and lesson plans focusing on women in history.
First up is the National Women's History Museum. The current online museum offers so much research content for students, as well as classroom resources for teachers, and even virtual field trips. They have a section dedicated to Women's History Month. I can't wait until they have a physical museum building on the National Mall in Washington, DC.
Our mission is to tell the stories of women who transformed our nation. We will do that through a growing state-of-the-art online presence and a future physical museum to educate, inspire, empower, shape the future, and provide a complete view of American history.
Hosted by The Library of Congress -the Women's History Month web site is a join effort from The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. They have joined in commemorating and encouraging the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history through the web site WomensHistoryMonth.gov.
At this website you can find audio and video resources, links to museum exhibits and images, as well as current events you can participate in. One strength of this website is that it curates all the teaching resources which focus on the history of women from the participating government organizations Here you will find lesson plans and activities for all age groups. LINK
Here are some additional links about the history of Women's History Month.
Time magazine article:
International Women's Day - March 8th History
CNN article- Why Women's History Month is in March
History Channel
National Women's History Alliance
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