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News
State Senator, educator discusses past, future of Women’s History
March 19, 2009
by Patrick Bloodgood
Norfolk District Public Affairs
FORT NORFOLK, Va. — Dr. Mamie Locke, Virginia state senator, was the keynote speaker at the district’s Women’s History Month observance here March 18.
Locke discussed the history of women in politics, and their role in the “green” movement, citing such leaders as Lois Gibbs who was at the forefront of the Love Canal environmental cleanup in New York.
Locke focused on all levels of activism, from local and regional to national and international. All of her examples showed how the tenacity and drive of the women affected their communities and the world for a greener future.
Women's history was virtually an unknown topic in the general public consciousness as recently as the 1970s. To address this historical oversight, the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County, Calif. Commission on the Status of Women initiated a "Women's History Week" celebration for 1978.
International Women's Day, celebrated the week of March 8, was chosen as the focal point of the observance. The activities held were met with enthusiastic response, and within a few years dozens of American schools planned special programs for Women's History Week.
The efforts of many women paid off in 1981, as a congressional resolution declared a "National Women's History Week." Senator Orrin Hatch and Congresswoman Barbara Mikulski co-sponsored the first joint congressional resolution.
In 1987, the National Women's History Project petitioned Congress to expand the national celebration to the entire month of March. Since then, the National Women's History Month Resolution has been approved with bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.
Each year, programs and activities in schools, workplaces and communities become more extensive as information and program ideas are developed and shared.