On March 8th, 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued a presidential proclamation naming the month of March as National Women’s History Week.  Six years later, that week-long recognition grew into a month-long commemoration and has become a yearly celebration. 

In President Carter’s proclamation he stated “From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often, women were unsung and consistently their contributions went unnoticed. But 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.”  The National Women’s History Project, an organization formed to keep this movement alive, designated the theme for 2011 as “Our History Is Our Strength,” a reflection of those words that were first stated in support of this commemoration.  

According to National Women’s Project, this year’s theme “pays tribute to the millions of women who helped to create a better world for the times in which they lived as well as for future generations.”  Women played integral roles in our nation’s history and the important advancements in social, family and employment settings.  Without women, we might not have seen progression in the labor movement, the women’s suffrage movement, the civil rights movement, the women’s rights movement nor the environmental movement.