Celebrating Women’s History
By Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin
March 16, 2009

Since the very beginnings of our democracy, women have played a critical role in shaping the nation we’re proud to call home today. Through their contributions to a wide array of American institutions, from the arts to the military, to the workplace and the home front, women have made an indelible mark on the strong social and economic foundations of our country. In recognition of the many unique contributions of women to our country and our society, the month of March was established over twenty years ago as “National Women’s History Month” and I would like to take this opportunity to discuss how this month honoring women came to be and what it means to women across the country.

Although many schools and communities established week-long celebrations honoring the contribution of American women, Congress did not officially establish a National Women’s History Week until 1981. Through the passage of a Joint Congressional Resolution introduced by Senators Barbara Mikulski and Orrin Hatch, Women’s History Week was established to coincide with March 8th, International Women’s Day in Europe.

As a result of the efforts of various organizations to promote women’s history and the ultimate passage of the Congressional resolution, Women’s History Week enjoyed great success across the country. State departments of education encouraged the celebration of Women’s History Week in schools and worked to distribute curriculum materials. After few years, governors, mayors and community leaders were on board supporting community-wide recognition of a Women’s History Week.

The widespread support for Women’s History Week led to requests that Congress expand the celebration over the entire month of March. In 1987, a National Women’s History Month resolution passed and has passed with bipartisan support ever since.  Increasingly, as more schools, places of work, houses of worship and communities recognize the importance of Women’s History Month, creative ways of marking the month have emerged to not only celebrate the talents and contributions of women, but also to enhance our understanding of the courageous efforts undertaken to achieve equal treatment and consideration for women under American law.

Although we’ve certainly come a long way in ensuring equal treatment of women, challenges remain. In recognition of the need to address the obstacles women still face, President Obama signed an executive order recently creating the White House Council on Women and Girls, and I was honored to participate in the signing ceremony at the White House.  The Council will work to coordinate a federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls, and to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs affect women and families. These are all worthy goals, and I welcome President Obama’s establishment of this Council that will work to identify the unique challenges women face in their homes, at their places of work and in their communities.  Given the number of working mothers in South Dakota - and having recently become a working mother myself - I will be particularly interested in this new Council’s focus on this aspect of women and families.

I’m proud of the progress we’ve made to integrate the stories of heroic American women to the discussion of our nation’s history. I encourage schools and organizations across South Dakota to participate in the celebration of National Women’s History Month and make their own unique contribution to the ongoing narrative of the history of women in America.