Women’s History Month began as a “Women’s History Week” in 1978, led by the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women. Since women’s history was virtually non-existent in the K-12 curriculum at the time, dozens of schools hosted special programs and classroom presentations, and also closed out the week with a celebratory parade in downtown Santa Rosa, California.

The following year, multiple organizations, communities and school districts across the United States were inspired to plan their own Women’s History Week celebrations and in 1980 the National Women’s History Project (now known as the National Women’s History Alliance) lobbied for national recognition.

In February 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first Presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8 as National Women’s History week. By 1986, 14 states had declared the entirety of March as Women’s History Month. Then, in 1987, Congress passed Public Law 100-9, which authorized March as Women’s History Month to honor women’s achievements and contributions to American history.