Back in 1978, a group of women in Santa Rosa, California, noticed that women were almost completely left out of school textbooks. They decided to start a local “Women’s History Week” in hopes of fixing that. They picked the week of March 8th because it coincided with International Women’s Day. By 1980, another group known as the ‘National Women’s History Project’ pushed for the government to recognize “Women’s History Week” internationally. President Jimmy Carter was the first to sign a proclamation making it official in 1987, and Congress declared that the week would be turned into a full month of recognizing the accomplishments of women. Since then, every president has kept the tradition going of focusing on the overlooked and underappreciated roles women have played throughout history. 

“I think it’s important to highlight women’s achievements because a lot of the time it is pushed to the side,” says Ms. Fitz.

Art teacher Ms. Fitz feels that while having a month is good, the recognition shouldn’t stop when March ends. She believes that women’s achievements should be acknowledged every day. She said that women are over 50% of the population, yet their history is still often pushed to the side. 

“I think it’s important to highlight the broad reach that women and professional industries have across all fields. I think it’s important to highlight what’s going on in your field, but also not just historical things, but talk about the here and now so it feels more relevant,” says Ms. Fitz.  

For 12th-grader Alahnie Guzman, the month is a way for people to be taught about women and their contributions in class. She talks about how in most subjects we learn about things that men have done to improve the world, while women aren’t brought up as much. Guzman finds her mother to be an individual who inspires her in many different ways.

“My mom is my beacon of strength and a woman who has inspired me throughout my life,” says Guzman. 

While Ms. Fitz and Alahnie have slightly different views on whether the month should be longer, they both agree that we haven’t learned enough about the sacrifices that women had to make throughout history. 

I don’t think that women should be the ones doing the work to highlight women’s history, I think men should be in charge of that,” states Ms. Fitz.