Women’s History Month

March is Women’s History, designed to recognize the specific achievements women have made over the course of American history. March was chosen because three momentous moments of the last century happened for women this month:

1. International Women’s Day is celebrated March 8^th and became a holiday in 1911
2. The first major march on Washington by suffragists happened on March 3, 1913
3. The National Women’s Party was founded in March 1917

We all “know” women have played an important role in creating the country we have today, but it may surprise you to know:

They became Civil War Nurses
When it came to medical care before the Civil War, women were encouraged to provide services to sick family members within their home but very little else. Only a few publicly practiced medicine and were primarily midwives. When the war began, both Confederate and Union medical departments still preferred their nursing staff to be men, assuming the conditions and demands would be too taxing or upsetting for females. But this quickly changed as both sides quickly discovered they were horribly unprepared for the number of wounded soldiers needing treatment. Soon private aid groups began recruiting female nurses to work in the hospitals, the most famous of which was Dorothea Dix. She was appointed as the Superintendent of Nurses for the Union Army in June of 1861 and was credited with establishing the standard of qualifications for women in the nursing corps.
 
They became Code Breakers during WWII
During World War II many countries developed codes to send secret, encoded messages about upcoming attacks and movements – but individuals trained to decipher these codes helped the U.S. anticipate their enemies’ plans and whereabouts to get ahead. Much of the cryptographic work and codebreaking that helped the U.S. win World War II was accomplished by women… more than 10,000! These “Code Girls” helped our Allies win the war.

They won the vote as Suffragettes
Women fought to earn the right to vote in the United States for nearly 100 years! This movement included hundreds of female activists and reformers and was finally ratified with the 19^th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920. That November, more than 8 million women across the country voted in an election for the very first time. Here’s an article specifically about women of color who made significant contributions in the fight for the female vote.

They made (and continue to make) impressive advancements in STEM
A variety of powerful women have made significant accomplishments within the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math over the past 100 years as well. Here’s a list of 13 of them.

The list of women-worth-celebrating is endless – which you can dive into here, here, and here.
Perhaps you have one who lives under your roof, too. Don’t hesitate to let them know about the impact they’ve made in your life as well!