Women’s History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 when Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28 which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982 as “Women’s History Week.” Throughout the next five years, Congress continued to pass joint resolutions designating a week in March as “Women’s History Week.” In 1987 after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project, Congress passed Pub. L. 100-9 which designated the month of March 1987 as “Women’s History Month.” Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions requesting and authorizing the President to proclaim March of each year as Women’s History Month.

With 2020 bringing the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing voting rights for women, I have received a lot of requests for my Susan B. Anthony program!  This March will be my busiest month ever, but I will also be performing the program in April, May and June (so far).  There are still plenty of opportunities for your organization to engage Miss Anthony.  Every month is Women’s History Month as far as I’m concerned, just as every month should be Black History Month.  It’s nice to have reasons to focus on otherwise overlooked contributions to our collective histories, but that’s no excuse for forgetting about under-represented voices the rest of the year!  There are always things to learn from one another.