There is an African proverb that says “Women hold up half the sky.” Women constitute half the world’s population, but still have not realized half of the world’s potential, received half of the world’s resources, or exercised half of the world’s power. But women have always been the invisible backbone—unseen but strong—of transforming social movements and anchoring institutions in society: our families, congregations, schools, and communities. March is Women’s History Month in our nation, and a chance to reflect on women’s transformational impact on American history and turn it into inspiration and action for the future.
The National Women’s History Alliance, which champions women’s history across the U.S. all year long, puts it this way: “History helps us learn who we are, but when we don’t know our own history, our po
wer, and dreams are immediately diminished. Multicultural American women are overlooked in most mainstream approaches to U.S. history, so the National Women’s History Project champions their accomplishments and leads the drive to write women back into history… The impact of women’s history might seem abstract to some, and less pressing than the immediate struggles ofworking women today. But to ignore the vital role that women’s dreams and accomplishments play in our own lives would be a great mistake. We draw strength and inspiration from those who came before us—and those remarkable women working among us today.”
This annual observance is marking an anniversary this year. Its origins in the United States began 45 years ago in 1978 when the Education Task Force of Sonoma County, California’s Commission on the Status of Women first celebrated “Women’s History Week” in Santa Rosa. They chose the week that included March 8, International Women’s Day, since that had already been celebrated in many countries for much of the 20th century and officially recognized by the United Nations one year earlier as a day to acknowledge women’s contributions and call for women’s economic, political, and civil rights. Women historians and community leaders quickly spread the demand for a national commemoration, and in 1980 President Jimmy Carter responded by issuing the first presidential proclamation designating March 2-8 as National Women’s History Week.
President Carter’s proclamation read: “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. As Dr. Gerda Lerner
