Please check back in spring 2023 for future events and activities
Women’s History Month was initiated in the U.S. in 1978 as “Women’s History Week” by the the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women. After the great success of the local celebration, dozens of schools planned special programs for Women’s History Week. Over one-hundred community women participated by doing special presentations in classrooms throughout the country.
In 1979, Molly Murphy MacGregor participated in The Women’s History Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, chaired by historian, Gerda Lerner and attended by national leaders of organizations for women and girls. When the participants learned about Women’s History Week, they decided to initiate similar celebrations within their own organizations, communities, and school districts. They also agreed to support an effort to secure a “National Women’s History Week.”
In February 1980 President Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring the Week of March 8th 1980 as National Women’s History Week. By 1986, 14 states had declared March as Women’s History Month. This momentum and state-by-state action was used as the rational to lobby Congress to declare the entire month of March 1987 as National Women’s History Month. In 1987, Congress declared March as National Women’s History Month in perpetuity. A special Presidential Proclamation is issued every year.
The University of Oregon celebrates Women’s History Month each year with a wide variety of events that celebrate, honor and highlight the work and contributions of WomeGri
Past Events and Activities
Women's History Month 2022 Events and Activities
- WIF x FWC: My Money Values
- Lyllye B. Parker BIWOC Speaker Series
- Women and Investing: What You Need to Know
- Celebrating Women in the Oregon MBA
- The Future We Need for Workers and Our Democracy
Read Celebrating and Building on 50 Years of Title IX by Yvette Alex-Assensoh, Vice President for Equity and Inclusion, here
Bridging the Gap between Racism, Sexism and Discrimination: Sport as a Platform for Social Justice featuring Jackie Joyner-Kersee as on YouTube
See the 2022 UO story on Women's History Month here
Women's History Month 2021 Events and Activities
Uplift and Organize: Women’s History Month 2021 by Yvette Alex-Assensoh, VP for Equity and Inclusion
Women’s History Month 2021 commemorates a particularly pivotal time in the American story. We have witnessed history being made at the highest levels of power with the election of Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman, Black and South Asian person to serve in the role. While that certainly gets much-deserved attention, the early months of 2021 have highlighted the contributions of women in a variety of areas. Representative Deb Halaand is poised to also make history after being nominated to serve as the United States Secretary of the Interior, which would make her the first Native American person to serve in the role. Organizers have also made their imprint. Women like Stacey Abrams and LaTosha Brown led voter registration efforts that not only shaped the 2020 elections, but provided a blueprint for underserved people to exercise their influence for years to come. Meanwhile, Black Lives Matter, which was founded by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, officially became the largest protest movement in history and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize...Read more here
Watch videos from Women's History Month 2021 here
Women's History Month 2020 Events and Activities
- “Finding Your Voice” - Third Annual International Women’s Day Panel and Networking Event
- “The Arc of Change: Intergenerational Changes Among Garment Workers in Bangladesh”
- Women in Peace Corps
- Karla Holloway: “From Fact to Fiction: A Life in Letters.”
- UO Women in Graduate Sciences
- Webster’s “Duchess of Malfi” and the “The White Devil” with Lara Bovilsky
- Amna Javed: An “Exploratory Analysis of Honor Killings in Pakistan”
- International Womxn’s Day Celebration
- Local Legends: Women in Sports
- John Collins: Race, Ethnicities and Inequalities Colloquium: Ethnographies of U.S. Empire
Listen to an interview on Women's History Month with Vice President for Equity and Inclsion, Yvette Alex-Assensoh.
Women's History Month 2019 Events and Activities
- International Conference on Feminism/Theory/Film
- Women's Empowerment Luncheon presented by Black Women of Achievement.
- Christen Smith, “The Sequelae of Black Life in Brazil and the US: Violence, Gender, Space and Time”
- Judge Yassmin Barrios, "Justice and Reparation in Guatemala: Challenges and Possibilities"
- International Womxn's Day Celebration
- International Women’s Day Panel and Lunch
- Cine-Lit 9: Mujer y Género
- Artist Reception: Anne Margratten
Women's Heritage Month 2018 Events and Activities
- Roe V. Wade Celebration: Activity Fair
- Roe V. Wade Celebration: Self-Defense Workshop
- Roe V. Wade Celebration: Feminist Trivia
- “The Gendered Organization of Migrant Domestic Work” - Rhacel Salazar Parreñas
- International Women's Day Celebration: A Global Event
- International Women's Day; Honoring Disabled Women Activists
- Women's Empowerment Awards Luncheon
- Dr. Alisha Moreland-Capuia: "The Psychological Impact of Racism
- #MeToo – Now What?
- Schnitzer Cinema & Discussion "Acts and Intermissions" A film on Emma Goldman
- UO Women in Graduate Sciences 4th Annual Fundraiser
Women's Heritage Month 2017
Yes We Can shared struggles unique to girls and women, and featured information and stories from around the globe, across the state, and specific to the UO. Stories from Girl Rising, the Emmy nominated documentary directed by Richard E. Robbins, shed light on the import role education plays in breaking the cycle of poverty. The program included a panel discussion with a focus on the unique challenges girls and women face in Oregon and the UO and represented perspectives from the film Girl Rising, The Women’s Foundation of Oregon, UO faculty, undergraduate and graduate students.