Syd Gibson, President
The celebratory month had its beginnings on February 28, 1909 as a socialist and labor movement in New York City. It honored the one year anniversary of the garment worker's strikes in New York that took place when thousands of women marched for economic rights through lower Manhattan to Union Square. Women's Day grew into an international observance spreading through Europe on the heels of socialism.
Women set about revising the school curriculum in Sonoma County, California to maintain balance on the contributions of women in America in the 1970's. A Women's History Week was created in 1978 around International Women's Day on March 8, 1975 marked by the United Nations.
Gerda Lerner chaired the Institute at the time of the conference at Sarah Lawrence College in 1979. Organizers lobbied Congress and President Jimmy Carter proclaimed the first national Women's History Week for March 2-8, 1980.
In 1987, congress passed a proclamation establishing Women's History Month. Now, Presidents pass annual proclamations announcing Women's History Month with a different theme each year.
For 2020, the theme is Valiant Women of the Vote. Let us all celebrate women who have fought for our right to vote.