Since 1911, International Women’s Day has been commemorated across the world on March 8th. This is a global day celebrating the economic, political, and social achievements of women past, present, and future. Every US President has marked March as Women’s History Month since 1995.
Women’s History Month honors and celebrates the struggles and achievements of American women throughout the history of the United States. Consider integrating resources and teaching ideas for Women’s History Month from the Library of Congress, with a focus on primary sources.
“Drawn to Purpose: American Women Illustrators and Cartoonists” is an exhibition that highlights little-known contributions made by North American women to two popular art forms—illustration and cartooning. While these fields are traditionally dominated by men, many women have long been creating art intended for reproduction and dissemination in newspapers, periodicals, and books. Learn more in this online exhibition.
The Travel Where Women Made History website introduces current travelers and hope-to-be travelers to a wide range of historic places associated with women’s history. All of the places on this site are in national parks or are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Use the interactive StoryMaps to discover places with women’s history connections all across the country, or check out a Trip Idea and spend a day exploring.
The blog post “Hidden Figures of Women’s History” from this featured article highlights “hidden figures” of history—women who broke barriers, accomplished great things, or led bold and fascinating lives in eras of limited opportunity for women. They include artists and athletes, reformers and rebels, explorers, journalists, and scientists.
This compilation of blog posts features primary sources on various topics and easy to implement teaching ideas.
How do you plan to recognize Women’s History Month?
Curious about the NCTE and Library of Congress connection? Through a grant announced recently by NCTE Executive Director Emily Kirkpatrick, NCTE is engaged in new ongoing work with the Library of Congress, and “will connect the ELA community with the Library of Congress to expand the use of primary sources in teaching.” Stay tuned for more throughout the year!
It is the policy of NCTE in all publications, including the Literacy & NCTE blog, to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, the staff, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified.