An International Women’s Day rally in Lisbon, Portugal
Credit: © Sonia Bonet, Shutterstock

Monday, March 8, is International Women’s Day (IWD). It is observed annually in many countries around the world. It serves to recognize and celebrate women’s cultural, economic, political, and social achievements and to promote women’s rights and gender equality. In some countries, IWD is a national holiday. In Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the day falls within Women’s History Month.

Many different groups, such as businesses, charities, governments, international and nongovernmental organizations, and schools organize activities and events for International Women’s Day. Some groups declare a different IWD theme each year. Many people observe the day with political actions, including marches and rallies for women’s rights, and protests against sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and violence against women. Others participate in such activities as conferences, exhibitions, labor strikes, performances, and sporting events. Women in some countries traditionally receive flowers and small gifts, or time off from work.

International Women’s Day has its origins in the women’s labor and suffrage (voting rights) movements of the early 1900′s. The first National Woman’s Day was observed in the United States on Feb. 28, 1909. It was designated as such by the Socialist Party of America to commemorate a women garment workers’ march in New York City in 1908 demanding suffrage and better work conditions. In 1910, an International Conference of Working Women met in Copenhagen, Denmark. German attendees Luise Zietz and Clara Zetkin proposed an annual international women’s day to further women’s rights, especially woman suffrage. The proposal was received with great enthusiasm.

International Women’s Day first was held in 1911. It was observed on March 19 by more than 1 million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. Men and women participated in hundreds of demonstrations. They demanded the right of women to vote and hold public office, and protested sex discrimination in employment. People later began observing IWD on March 8. This date corresponds with protests by Russian women in the 1910′s against World War I (1914-1918) and conditions preceding the Russian Revolution of 1917. In 1975, as part of International Women’s Year, the United Nations (UN) began celebrating IWD on March 8. Today, IWD is celebrated in more than 100 countries.

March 8, 2017

Today is International Women’s Day (IWD), and in honor of Women’s History Month, we look at this global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. In recent years, the day has also become a call to action for accelerating gender parity. IWD is celebrated around the world with arts performances, conferences, marches, rallies, talks, and networking events.

Women’s History Month is celebrated each March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. This year’s theme in the United States, selected by the National Women’s History Project, is “Honoring Trailblazing Women in Labor and Business.” The 2017 poster for Women’s History Month depicts “Rosie the Riveter,” a symbol of the contributions of women to the Allied military manufacturing effort during World War II (1939-1945).
Credit: © National Women’s History Project

Begun in Europe in the early 1900’s, today IWD is celebrated in more than 100 countries, including Australia, Canada, India, Japan, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It is also an official holiday in many countries, including Afghanistan, Armenia, China (for women only), Cuba, Russia, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam, and Zambia, as well as in the region of Palestine.

The first national Women’s Day observance was on Feb. 28, 1909, in New York City. It was organized by the Socialist Party of America in remembrance of the 1908 strike of the International Ladies Garment Worker’s Union, in which women protested against working conditions. The first IWD was on March 19, 1911, and was observed by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. Women participated in hundreds of demonstrations and demanded that they be given the right to vote and to hold public office. They also protested against sex discrimination in employment. IWD was held on March 8 for the first time in Germany in 1914. The day was intended to promote suffrage (the right to vote) for German women. After that, many countries began observing IWD on March 8.

In 1975, as part of International Women’s Year, the United Nations (UN) began officially recognizing and sponsoring IWD on March 8 and it became a national holiday in even more nations. Each year, the UN designates an official campaign theme for IWD. The theme for IWD 2017 is “Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030.” Also known by the Twitter hashtag #BeBoldForChange, the campaign encourages people to take bold action to help form a more gender-inclusive world. Participating countries may also choose their own themes.

A group celebrates International Women’s Day in 2009 at the statue of “La Pola” in the Candelaria district of Bogotá, Colombia. Policarpa Salavarrieta, known as “La Pola,” was a heroine of the Colombian Independence Movement of the early 1800′s. Credit: Alex Torrenegra (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

Recognition of IWD in March led to the entire month being declared Women’s History Month in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. It is a time to recognize women’s achievements and contributions to society. Women’s History Month traces its beginnings to an effort begun by a school district in Sonoma County, California, in 1978. Earlier in that decade, women historians in the United States had begun to increase their focus on the contributions of women throughout history. In 1978, the school district organized a Women’s History Week to promote the teaching of women’s history. School officials chose the week of March 8 to include IWD. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed the first national Women’s History Week for March 2-8. Women’s History Week was so popular that in 1981, the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution requesting the president to make the week a country-wide celebration beginning in 1982.

Over the next five years, Congress continued to pass joint resolutions designating a week in March as Women’s History Week. In the meantime, a number of states began their own efforts. By 1986, 14 states had declared March as Women’s History Month. Finally, in 1987, after receiving a petition from the National Women’s History Project, Congress passed a public law that designated the month of March 1987 as Women’s History Month. From 1988 to 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions authorizing the president to proclaim March of each year Women’s History Month. Since 1995, each U.S. president has issued annual proclamations to that effect.

Each year, Women’s History Month in the United States also celebrates a different theme. This year’s theme, selected by the National Women’s History Project, is “Honoring Trailblazing Women in Labor and Business.” The theme honors “women who have successfully challenged the role of women in both business and the paid labor force. Women have always worked, but often their work has been undervalued and unpaid.”

Women’s History Month has been celebrated in March in Australia since 2000, and in the United Kingdom since 2011.

In Canada, Women’s History Month has been celebrated in October since 1992. It coincides with a commemoration of the Persons Case. The case involved a legal decision on Oct. 18, 1929, that changed the political status of Canadian women. Some other countries celebrate a similar month dedicated to women’s achievements. For example, the Philippines celebrates Women’s Month in March. South Africa commemorates a women’s protest march that took place in August 1956 with Women’s Day on August 9 and Women’s Month in August each year.

Websites:

• https://www.internationalwomensday.com/Theme
• http://www.un.org/en/events/womensday/history.shtml
• http://www.un.org/en/events/womensday/index.shtml
• http://womenshistorymonth.gov
• http://www.nwhp.org/womens-history-month/womens-history-month-history/

World Book articles:

• Women’s movement

Other Behind the Headlines posts:  

• Millions Join Women’s March (Jan. 24, 2017)

March 8, 2016

Since 1913, today, March 8, has been International Women’s Day, a part of Women’s History Month. The day is a time to reflect on the progress of women’s rights and of the ending of discrimination against women, and the celebration of women’s achievements and acts of courage and determination. As part of International Women’s Day, today we look at the American “Hello Girls” of World War I.

Hello Girls of World War I
Credit: Library of Congress

In 1917, United States troops began shipping out to France in large numbers to fight in World War I. After years of warfare, the French telephone service—still a fairly new technology at that time—was struggling, and few operators spoke English. To improve communications, the U.S. Army Signal Corps created its own telephone system. In November 1917, the Army asked for American women who spoke French to serve in France as operators. At that time, nearly all telephone operators were women.

Thousands of American women responded to newspaper ads asking for operators to serve overseas. The Army chose 450 women for special training with rugged field telephones and switchboards and other military technology. The women also received basic military training. A first group of 33 women shipped to France in March 1918. Women began operating Army switchboards throughout the American lines, which included many dangerous spots in combat zones.

By war’s end in November 1918, 223 women had served overseas as “Hello Girls” (a dated colloquial term we would not use today). Many of these women then served with occupation forces in Germany or remained in France until the end of peace talks in June 1919. Thousands of other American women served the war effort in France as nurses, clerks, drivers, and many other important occupations.

After the Hello Girls returned to the United States, the women were considered civilians working for the Army and denied veteran’s status, including medals and benefits. For decades, legislation to right this wrong stalled in Congress. Finally, largely through the tireless efforts of one Hello Girl from Montana, Merle Egan Anderson, Congress awarded veteran’s status to the operators in 1978, 60 years after the end of World War I.

Other link

• Montana Women’s History Matters