March is Women’s History Month. This annual celebration highlights the contributions of women to historical events and current society.
This celebration finds its roots in Sonoma, California where in 1978 a school district participated in a Women’s History Week in conjunction with International Women’s Day (March 8). Greda Lerner and other scholars learned of this successful celebration during a fifteen-day conference about women’s history in 1979. Participants decided to initiate similar commemorations within their own communities. In February 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential proclamation declaring a National Women’s History Week. Congress passed the first Joint Congressional Resolution proclaiming a Women’s History Week the same year. Congress designated March Women’s History Month in 1987, and since 1998 U.S. presidents have issued annual proclamations to designate the month.
To recognize and celebrate this month, CEHHS curated a list of resources centering women voices and stories. These resources are available through the UT Library and online.
2024 Updated Resources: Civil Rights Leaders & Movements
For 2024, CEHHS A&E highlights women leaders protecting and advancing civil rights around the world. These women have made significant contributions to the fields of education, health, and human services, as well as to the global community. They have inspired and empowered others to fight for justice, equality, and dignity for all people.
Agents of Change – Empowering Women in the Middle East – Forbes | Video
Bananeras: Women Transforming the Banana Unions of Latin America by Dana Frank | Physical Book
Fighter in Velvet Gloves: Alaska Civil Rights Hero Elizabeth Peratrovich by Annie Boochever & Roy A. Pertrovich | Physical Book
Our Own People (Yuri Kochiyama) – Throughline | Podcast Episode
The women who masterminded the Montgomery Bus Boycott – Code Switch | Podcast Episode
International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day (IWD) is an annual global commemoration held on March 8. This event highlights the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. Beginning within the labor and suffrage movements, the date also serves as a focal point for the women’s rights movement. February 28, 1909, marks the earliest purported Women’s Day observance in New York City, New York. The United Nations began celebrating IWD in 1975 and proclaimed March 8 as an official UN holiday in 1977. Learn more about this year’s IWD theme and initiatives.
International Women’s Day 1970-77: Pamphlet 1970-1977 | Video
Protesters Continue Fight for Equal Rights on International Women’s Day | Video
United Nations Observance of International Women’s Day 2023 | Article
What Is International Women’s Day? | Video
What were the Origins of International Women’s Day, 1886-1920? | E-Book
Women Voices
The resources below feature some women voices through different media formats. Bolded resources signify those written/created by women.
A Black Women’s History of the United States | E-Book – Daina Ramey Berry & Kali N. Gross
Invisible No More | E-Book – Andrea J. Ritchie
Our Voices, Our Histories: Asian American and Pacific Islander Women | E-Book – Shirley Hune & Gail M. Nomura
Soldaderas in the Mexican Military: Myth and History | Physical Book – Elizabeth Salas
The Warrior Queens | Physical Book – Antonia Fraser
All titles in this section are available in the Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature. Curated by Susan L. Groenke, PhD.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club | Physical Book – Malinda Lo
Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box | Physical Book – Evette Dionne
#NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women | Physical Book – Lisa Charleyboy & Mary Beth Leatherdale (Eds.)
Pura’s Cuentos: How Pura Belpré Reshaped Libraries with Her Stories | Physical Book – Annette Bay Pimentel
Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler | Physical Book – Ibi Zoboi
Women Artists, A-Z | Physical Book – Melanie LaBarge (Author) & Caroline Carrigan (Illustrator)
Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism | Essays – bell hooks
Heart Berries | Memoir – Terese Marie Mailhot
Hill Women: Finding Family and a Way Forward in the Appalachian Mountains | Memoir – Cassie Chambers
The Poetry of Arab Women | Poetry – Nathalie Handal (Ed.)
Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More | Memoir – Janet Mock
Dolores | Documentary
Frida | Movie
He Named Me Malala | Documentary
Revolution – The Ascent of Women: A 10,000 Year Story | Documentary
Set It Off | Movie
Girlhood (It’s Complicated) | Digital Exhibit – National Museum of American History
Where There Is a Woman There Is Magic | Digital Collection – National Portrait Gallery
Women in Science: A Resource Guide | Research Guide – Library of Congress
Women’s Stories of… | Digital Collection – National Park Service
Votes for Women | Digital Collection – Because of Her Story (Smithsonian)
Homegoing | E-Book – Yaa Gyasi
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter | Physical Book – Erika Sánchez
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness | Physical Book – Arundhati Roy
The Miseducation of Cameron Post | Physical Book – Emily M. Danforth
Somebody’s Daughter | Physical Book – Chisa Hutchinson
Collected | Crystal M. Moten & Krystal Klingenberg (National Museum of American History)
On Being | Krista Tippett
She Explores | Gale Straub (Ravel Media)
What’s Her Name | Katie Nelson & Olivia Meikle
Womanica | Wonder Media Network
2023 Highlighted Resources
- Brown Girls | Physical Book – Daphne Palasi Andreades
- Milestones in Women’s History From the Year You Were Born | Article
- New Beginnings: Immigrant Women and the American Experience | Virtual Exhibit
- Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement | Memoir – Tarana Burke
- Under the Sisterhood | Podcast
Updated March 2024 by Miranda N. Rutan, Doctoral Student, CEHHS A&E, UT Knoxville | Curated March 2022 by Miranda N. Rutan, Doctoral Student, CEHHS A&E, UT Knoxville