How women sought their place in American history books | National Geography

MacGregor and other team members believed that the absence of stories about women in educational materials was a violation of Title IX. The unjust gap it created increased inequality between men and women.

The committee then proposed to organize a Women’s History Week. In celebration of women’s rights worldwide, the first Women’s History Week was planned for March 8, in conjunction with International Women’s Day. The week opened with a parade, presentation and distribution of teaching materials to local schools.

Not everyone likes this proposal. McGregor tells us in the 2020 PPS documentary “We were rejected as selfish human haters,” but the celebration sparked great interest from women across the country. Suddenly, a local commemoration became a major effort to celebrate the history of women nationally. The group soon developed into the National Women’s History Project (now the National Women’s Historical Alliance).

Federal recognition of the history of women

While the NWHP provided materials and curricula on women’s historical achievements to teachers across the country, the organization urged the federal government to recognize women’s history. The first victory was recorded in 1980 when President Jimmy Carter announced the first National Women’s Week to be held March 2-8. “Understanding the true history of our country will help everyone understand the need for full equality before the law,” he said in his speech.

In 1981, Maryland’s Democrat Barbara Mikulski and Republican Sen. Arrin Hatch of Utah supported the cross-party bill to declare March 8 National Women’s Week. This week was celebrated annually until 1987. Congress then followed in the footsteps of several US states and passed a joint resolution declaring the whole of March as Women’s Historic Month.

Over the years, the drive to recognize and include women in the historical sciences has continued. In 1999, the National Commission for the History of Women (founded by President Bill Clinton) recommended initiatives to find “hidden women” in museums and archives, to create women’s historical endeavors in each state, and to make women’s history more prominent in the curriculum. Historians also began to discover the contributions of historically excluded women. In doing so, they explored vivid stories of women throughout society, beyond white, gay, and gender women.

But the work continues. In a 2017 study by the National Museum of Women’s History, the educational standards of the states placed more emphasis on women’s domestic roles and did not take into account the size and depth of women’s history. But there is reason for hope. Trying to identify women of the past requires perseverance and creativity. As MacGregor said in an oral story from the early 2000s, “We told the real story, well, this is a challenge and how are we going to handle it?”

This article was originally published in English on Nationalgeographic.com