How It Started

The month of March celebrates and honors the achievements of women all over the world. The tradition started as a local celebration in Santa Rosa California in 1978 dedicating the week of March 8th too “Women’s History Week”. The following year this celebration spread across the country.

In 1980, Women’s History Week gained national recognition. This was attributed to a group of women and historians apart of the National Women’s History Project. That same year, Jimmy Carter made the first presidential proclamation naming the week of March 8th “National Women’s History Week”

Carter claimed that “The achievements, leadership, courage, strength, and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.”

In 1987, congress designated the month of March as “Women’s History Month” allowing for the annual presidential proclamations designating the month of march to the celebration. 

Who we have celebrated

While the month celebrates the accomplishments of all the women surrounding us there are some notable figures that we continue to attribute throughout history:

• Rosa Parks was an American civil rights activist. On December 1, 1955, she refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, sparking the successful 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott.
• Valentina Tereshkova was a Soviet astronaut. She became the first woman in space on June 16, 1963. She orbited Earth 48 times in 71 hours, remaining the only woman to complete a solo space mission.
• Kathrine Switzer became the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon in 1967 despite race officials physically attempting to stop her. Before her, only men had run the race. 
• Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani advocate for girls’ education globally who won the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. When she was 15 years old, she was shot by the Taliban on October 9, 2012, for advocating for girls’ education on a bus but fortunately survived serving as a symbol for female strength. 

Modern Day

Today we continue this tradition to honor the women who have held leaderships roles in history, and in our very own lives. It is important that we continue to recognize women and there achievements because to often they have gone overlooked. 

Empowering women helps to close the gender divide within our society. Leadership positions, work places, and educational environments have historically been dominated by men. Now is the time to work towards equality, and Women’s History Month helps do that.

Notable Women of 2025-2026

Alyssa Liu 

This year at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games, Alyssa Liu became the first American Gold medalist figure skater since 2002. Liu has been skating since she was 5 years old and became the youngest person ever to be named a U.S. champion, earning her title at just 13 years old. She was the first American women to win a quadruple jump and the first junior woman to land a triple axel. In 2022 she earned 6th place at the Beijing Olympics and won a world title at the 2025 World Championships. 

Olivia Dean

At the 2026 grammy’s, British R&B singer Olivia Dean won best new artist of the year. While she was accepting the award on stage Dean said, “I’m up here as a granddaughter of an immigrant,” sending a powerful message to females and immigrants that anything is possible. Dean claimed “I’m a product of bravery and I think those people deserve to be celebrated. We’re nothing without each other.”

Sheryl Lee Ralph

This year Sheryl Lee Ralph was named TIME Magazine’s 2026 Women of the Year being recognized for her role in Abbott Elementary and for “teaching by example”. Ralph has been acting for nearly 50 years but beyond that she is a singer, author, and activist. She is the founder of the DIVA Foundation for HIV/AIDS awareness, advocating for women with these diseases who have commonly been left out of the conversation. In 2025 she received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star.