"The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist, nor to any one organization, but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights."
—Gloria Steinem; feminist, journalist, and activist
Women’s History Month honors and celebrates the struggles and achievements of women throughout history. It is observed in March by the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, and in October in Canada. Women have struggled a tremendous amount throughout history with fighting for equality.
International Women's Day is a global day celebrating social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. It also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
Dating back to February, 1908, the first glimpse of what would become International Women's Day was seen when 15,000 New York City garment workers went on strike and marched through the city to protest against their working conditions, including long work hours, low pay, and the lack of voting rights. Originally called National Woman’s Day, it was first celebrated on February 28, 1909. Led by German campaigner and socialist Clara Zetkin, the idea to turn the day into an international movement advocating universal suffrage was established at the International Conference of Working Women in 1910. The celebration spread across the world. International Women’s Day became an official holiday in Russia in 1913, and helped pave the way for Russian women to be granted voting rights soon after.
Marked annually on March 8th, International Women's Day (IWD) is one of the most important days of the year to:
The International Women's Day team's missions are...
Learn more about this holiday on the International Women's Day website.
The 19th Amendment was adopted in 1920 giving most American women the right to vote. This milestone was a major turning point for women's equality, but immigrants and Black women in the United States had to wait until the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964 for this same right. Women world-wide are still fighting for a chance to voice their opinions as part of the electorate of their respective countries.
Digital Public Library of America's collection presents and contextualizes the historic and ongoing contributions of Black women to the fight for racial justice and equal rights
New York Times
A PBS Education article from 2019 discusses racism in the Suffrage Movement
Published in 1792 and considered the first great feminist treatise.
Women have been historically overlooked in the medical field. Prior to 1993, there was no requirement for medications to be tested on women, and most medical tests that did include women focused primarily on reproductive health. Women were removed from medical trials due to hormonal cycles that were believed to make them more difficult to study the effects of the drug. Men experience hormonal cycles as well. Additionally, these drugs were then prescribed to women without consideration for their unique needs.
While most people include pregnancy, menopause, and female organs to be the extent of women's health, they overlook the fact that women's bodies react differently than men's in other health areas including bone density, diabetes, heart attacks, mental health, and sexually transmitted diseases. women's chronic pain is routinely overlooked, and women are more likely to be referred to a therapist than a chronic pain specialist for their pains.
Women in the workforce has changed drastically overtime. Before World War II, many women were either homemakers or else worked in low-status positions such as a secretary or store clerk. During the war, however, women needed to fill the jobs left behind by the men. They were encouraged to serve their country by working in factories and sectors previously only open to men. After the war, women were quickly pushed out of those positions and the US Department of Labor reported the United States workforce was only 32.7% women (As of August 2020, that number rose to 47%)
Women could not be pushed back so easily. Women have fought for their rights to have the same opportunities and pay as men since the 1940s and are still advocating for these rights around the world.
International Labour Organization
World Economic Forum
2021 Fact Sheet from the National Partnership for Women and Families
New York Times, 2020
American Association of University Women's (AAUW) reports statistical findings on the gap regarding earnings by gender
Study on the state of women in corporate America
The #MeToo movement was founded by Tarana Burke in 2017 after a tweet from Alyssa Milano (actress) sparked an international outpouring of stories about women who had never before shared their stories of sexual assault.
UN Women; 2019
Learn more about sexual violence by reading statistics, published research, and a glossary of a terms to help engage with the discussion.
American businesswoman, consultant, investor, speaker, author and TV personality. She is the owner of $5 billion business ‘The Corcoran Group.'
Former CEO of PepsiCo. Considered one of the world's 100 most powerful women.
African-American business woman; Chairwoman of Starbucks Corporation; Formerly President and Co-CEO of Ariel Investments.
Created specialized hair products for African American hair care and was one of the first American women to become a self-made millionaire
"WOCinTech stock - 173" by Mike Ngo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
"More girls than boys studied geography, chemistry, biology, and physics in the 1800s. These subjects were seen as good for girls because they strengthened the mind and gave girls an appreciation of nature, and therefore God. Science didn't become a "boys" subject until the 1900s, when jobs in science became available." (Source: National Museum of American History)
First black woman doctor in the United States
"Mother of the Internet" due to inventing the algorithm behind the Spanning Tree Protocol
first woman to win a Nobel Prize, in Physics, and with her later win, in Chemistry, she became the first person to claim Nobel honors twice. Her efforts with led to the discovery of polonium and radium, and she championed the development of X-rays
A renowned physicist, former chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Chair of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board
Graphic designer responsible for much of the Apple Macintosh interface including the Chicago and Geneva typefaces.
Women have played an essential role in the functions of NASA for almost a century. Learn about some of the women here.
Interviews and Activities featuring women of STEM
One of NASA's human 'computers,' Katherine Johnson performed the complex calculations that enabled humans to successfully achieve space flight.
First African American female astronaut. In 1992, she flew into space aboard the Endeavour, becoming the first African American woman in space.
Astronaut and astrophysicist who became the first American woman in space aboard the space shuttle Challenger
Eight women building leading products in legal tech give their thoughts on how legal tech is changing the law.
Making the Future of Legal Tech Female: How We Can Promote Women Founders
Golf
Race Car Driver
Gymnastics
Tennis
Tennis
Glamour
ESPN
CBS News
Smithsonian Magazine
First Black Texan in Congress
First female presidential nominee of a major political party; first American first lady to win a political office seat
First female vice president, first Black vice president, and first Asian-American vice president
Second woman on the Supreme Court; fought for gender equality and women's rights
First woman to serve on the Supreme Court
First Hispanic woman on the Supreme Court
Facts and figures: Women’s leadership and political participation
National Women's History Alliance's list of resources about woman suffragists and the movement to win the right to vote
Many of these resources and programs are funded under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.