Dick Durbin: “29 years ago, March was designated National Women's History Month. It is hard to imagine, but as recently as the 1970s…”

“29 years ago, March was designated National Women's History Month. It is hard to imagine, but as recently as the 1970s, history books largely left out the contributions of women in America. This began to change in 1978, when a small group set out to revise the school curriculum in their community--Sonoma County, CA. The idea was to create a Women's History Week, and its goal was to write women back into history books. It was an idea that was long overdue. And Women's History Week took off around the county . . . around the State . . . and across the Nation. It didn't take long before organizers lobbied Congress and even the White House. And on February 28, 1980, it paid off. President Jimmy Carter announced for the first time that March 2-8, 1980, would be designated as National Women's History Week. He urged libraries, schools, and community organizations to focus on leaders who struggled for equality: Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cody Stanton, Harriet Tubman, and Alice Paul. In 1981, the cause gained further momentum when an unlikely partnership between then-Representative Barbara Mikulski and Senator Orrin Hatch cosponsored a congressional resolution for National Women's History Week. And 6 short years later, National Women's History Week became National Women's History Month.…”