In the 1970s, a group called the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women started a Women’s History Week, and dozens of California schools participated, creating special programs honouring the week.
Over time, the idea of the week spread throughout the country, and grew from a week into the entire month of March. March was designated as Women’s History Month in 1987 to acknowledge that the role of American women in history has been consistently overlooked and undervalued in the body of American history.
Take a moment to also learn about International Women’s Day, Mar. 8!
Here are some ideas for how you can honor and celebrate the month:
Support women-owned businesses
- Use Intentionalist’s women-owned business directory to #SpendLikeItMatters
- Find women-owned businesses on Women-Owned Business Directory
- Search the City of Seattle’s online business directory under the Advanced Search area and select WMBE (women- and minority-owned businesses) Businesses Only
- Find info on growing your woman-owned business from the U.S. Small Business Administration
Attend Women’s History Month events
- University of Washington: Celebrate UW Womxn, all month long
- General Assembly: Womxn at Work | Champions of Change: Celebrating Women’s History Month, Mar. 12
- The Smithsonian: Viewfinder: Women’s Film and Video from the Smithsonian, the first Thursday of each month
- Find more events at WomensHistoryMonth.gov
Learn about women’s history in our region
- Washington State Historical Society’s Women’s History Consortium (use the Women’s History Consortium menu on the left to see all their amazing resources like Elected Washington Women and more)
- City of Seattle’s Seattle Women’s History Timeline
- Celebrate Women in STEM with Pacific Science Center
- Read Crosscut’s interview with Quin Nita Cobbins-Modica, executive director of BlackPast.org, about the Black women who changed the course of Seattle’s history: “Seattle’s Black women activists have been marching for decades”
Support women’s nonprofits and organizations
Local organizations include:
- Mary’s Place
- Female Founders Alliance
- Refugee Women’s Alliance
- WA Women’s Foundation
- Women Who Code Seattle
National organizations include:
- Girls Who Code and their partnership with University of Washington
- BuiltByGirls
- National Organization for Women Foundation
- National Women’s Law Center
- SheShouldRun
- UltraViolet Action
Celebrate women throughout history through literature and media
Books & Magazines
- Seattle Public Library: Women’s History Starts with Mighty Girls: Picture Books
- King County Library System’s Women’s History Month reading guide
- New York Public Library’s Women’s History Month reading guide
- Penguin Random House Women’s History Month Reading Challenge
- 25 must reads for Women’s History Month
- Time 100 Women of the Year
- Books to Read During Women’s History Month
- 10 Must-Read Books for Women’s History Month
- 17 Children’s Books To Read To Your Kids In Honor Of Women’s History Month
- 25 Children’s Picture Books for Women’s History Month
- 25 Biographical Pictures Books for National Women’s History Month
Movies