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Abigail Adams |
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Dolley Madison |
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Clara Barton |
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Eleanor Roosevelt |
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Mahalia Jackson |
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Sally Hemings |
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Annie Oakley |
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Babe Didrikson |
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The History of Women's History
Before 1970, women's history was rarely the subject of
serious study. As historian Mary Beth Norton recalls,
"only one or two scholars would have identified
themselves as women's historians, and no formal doctoral
training in the subject was available anywhere in the
country." Since then, however, the field has undergone a
metamorphosis. Today almost every college offers women's
history courses and most major graduate programs offer
doctoral degrees in the field.
The Women's Movement
Two significant factors contributed to the emergence of
women's history. The women's movement of the sixties caused
women to question their invisibility in traditional American
history texts. The movement also raised the aspirations as
well as the opportunities of women, and produced a growing
number of female historians. Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, one of
the early women's historians, has remarked that "without
question, our first inspiration was political. Aroused by
feminist charges of economic and political discrimination .
. . we turned to our history to trace the origins of women's
second-class status."
New Social History
Women's history was also part of a larger movement that
transformed the study of history in the United States.
"History" had traditionally meant political history—a
chronicle of the key political events and of the leaders,
primarily men, who influenced them. But by the 1970s "the
new social history" began replacing the older style.
Emphasis shifted to a broader spectrum of American life,
including such topics as the history of urban life, public
health, ethnicity, the media, and poverty.
The Personal Is Political
Since women rarely held leadership positions and until
recently had only a marginal influence on politics, the new
history, with its emphasis on the sociological and the
ordinary, was an ideal vehicle for presenting women's
history. It has covered such subjects as the history of
women's education, birth control, housework, marriage,
sexuality, and child rearing. As the field has grown,
women's historians realized that their definition of history
needed to expand as well—it focused primarily on white
middle-class experience and neglected the full racial and
socio-economic spectrum of women.
Women's History Month
The public celebration of women's history in this country
began in 1978 as "Women's History Week" in Sonoma County,
California. The week including March 8,
International Women's Day, was selected. In 1981, Sen.
Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Rep. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.)
co-sponsored a joint Congressional resolution proclaiming a
national Women's History Week. In 1987, Congress expanded
the celebration to a month, and March was declared Women's
History Month |
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