We’re proud to celebrate Women’s History Month (WHM). Every year during the month of March, women’s rights advocates work to bring awareness to the role of women in our society and culture, share their achievements, and encourage everyone to support women on their journey toward equality, equity, and inclusion in all areas of society.
On March 6th, 2025, The White House released this official proclamation:
“Every day, without fame or fanfare, women inspire, support, and strengthen their families, communities, and our country. Women’s History Month presents a great opportunity to celebrate the tremendous impact women continue to have on our Nation.”
Our goal is to give women the fame and fanfare they deserve, not only during WHM or special commemorative days, but on every single day of the year. It’s a fact that throughout history, women have made significant contributions in every area of society, including but not limited to:
- Science: physics, engineering, chemistry, biology, psychology, psychiatry
- Mathematics and computer science
- Culture: music, visual art, writing, drama, journalism, film, television
- Leadership: political, education, business, social
Let’s take a moment for that last bullet point on leadership. In 2024, the American Psychological Association (APA) published an article called “Women Leaders Make Work Better. Here’s the Science Behind How to Promote Them. The article offers research supporting the following claims:
- Women embody transformational leadership styles: click here to learn.
- People see women as equal to men in leadership: click here to learn.
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- In 1946, 35% of people in the U.S. thought men and women equally intelligent
- In 2018, that number increased to 86%
- The presence of women in leadership improves collaboration: click here to learn.
- Women score higher on 7/8 traits associated with good leadership: click here to learn.
- When women are in leadership, employees expect fairer treatment, compared to when men are in leadership: click here to learn.
But we digress. This article is about WHM and celebrating the achievements of women throughout history. We’ll leave that information right there while we review the genesis of women’s history month, introduce the WHM theme for 2025 and share notable moments in women’s history in the U.S., below.
Women’s History Month: How it Started
We encourage everyone reading this article to visit the Women’s History Month 2025 website, which hosts a wealth of information on women’s history month in the U.S. This important awareness month began in 1981 when President Reagan proclaimed the week beginning March 7th 1982 would be the first annual “Women’s History Week.” Women’s History week was reapproved and announced each year between 1982 and 1994.
In 1995 – and every year since – both the U.S. Congress on the Office of the President have issued proclamations recognizing March as the official Women’s History Month. Here’s a link to an official legal history of WHM compiled by the Law Library of Congress:
Women’s History Month: A Commemorative Observances Legal Research Guide
In addition to the official federal government website we link to above, the following publicly funded websites host valuable information on WHM:
- The National Archives
- The Smithsonian Museum
- The Smithsonian Women’s History Museum
- The United States Holocaust Museum
- The National Park Service:
Notable resource: National Parks Related to Women’s History (scroll down page for map)
In addition to the information freely available on those pages, the official WHM page includes links to these inspiring stories of diverse women in U.S. culture and history:
Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist
Pattern and Paradox: The Quilts of Amish Women | Smithsonian American Art Museum
Women of Five Wars: Persian Gulf, Iraq & Afghanistan
Latinas Talk Latinas | National Museum of American History
Now let’s take a look at this year’s theme.
WHM 2025: Moving Forward Together
The organizers chose the theme – Moving Forward Together – in order to “…celebrate the collective strength, equality, and influence of women who have dedicated their lives to education, mentorship, and leadership, shaping the minds and futures of all generation.”
To that end, to recognize the women in our past who shaped our present and contributed to the development of female leaders in the present who will share our collective work toward equity, inclusion, and equality in the future, we’ll share a timeline of women’s achievement, from the birth of our nation until today.
Women Shaping Our History: A Timeline of Achievement
1776: Abigail Adams writes this letter to John Adams: “…remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”
1848: The first even women’s rights convention held in Seneca Falls, New York.
1849: Elizabeth Blackwell graduates first in her class at Geneva College in New York, becoming the fist female physician in the U.S
1851: Abolitionist Sojourner Truth makes her legendary “Am I Not a Woman” speech, with lines such as:
“Am I not a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me!” signaling the strength and capabilities of women everywhere.
1869: The state of Wyoming grants women the right to vote. Susan B. Anthony and Cay Stanton start the National Women’s Suffrage Association.
1916: Margaret Sanger opens a birth control clinic, which is immediately closed. She goes on to start the American Birth Control League in 1921, which created the template for contemporary groups like Planned Parenthood.
1917: Jeannette Rankin elected by the citizens of Montana as the first woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
1920: Thanks to the work of Susan B. Anthony and the Suffragette Movement, the U.S. passes the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. Here’s the key part of the text: “…the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
1932: Amelia Earheart completes a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Only one other person, Charles Lindbergh, had done this before.
1945: Tlingit tribe member Elizabeth Peratrovich leads a movement that culminates in the passage of the Alaska Equal Rights Act. This is the first anti-discrimination law passed in the 20th century.
1955: Rosa Parks, a black woman living in Montgomery, Alabama, chooses to remain seated rather than give her seat on a bus to a white man, a pivotal event in the nascent U.S. Civil Rights Movement.
1960: The FDA approves the first birth control pill, empowering women with one step toward full reproductive choice.
1963: President John F. Kennedy signs the Equal Pay Act, ending pay discrimination in the workplace based on sex.
Note: Pew Research indicates that as of 2023, a woman earns an average of 82 cents for every dollar earned by a man.
1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act, part of which bans employment discrimination based on sex.
1966: Betty Friedan starts the National Organization of Women (NOW), a grassroots organization dedicated to equality for women in all areas of society and life.
1972: President Nixon signs Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendment, outlawing sex-based exclusion from any activity in any school receiving federal funds. This revolutionized sports participation for girls in elementary, middle, and high school, and women in college.
1973:
- The Supreme Court passes Roe v. Wade, securing the right to abortion nationwide.
Note: SCOTUS reversed Roe in 2022
- Female professional tennis player Billie Jean King beats male professional tennis player three sets to zero in a match on live national television.
1981: Sandra Day O’Connor becomes the first female Justice to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States
1983: Sally ride become he first female astronaut to go to space.
1984. Geraldine Ferraro receives the nomination to run for Vice-President of the United States.
1993: Janet Reno becomes the first female Attorney General of the U.S.
1997: Madeleine Albright becomes the female Secretary of State.
1994: President Bill Clinton signs the Violence Against Women Act, the first law to codify domestic violence and sexual assault as crimes.
2007: Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
2013: Women allowed to engage in combat operations in the U.S. military.
2016: Hillary Clinton receives the nomination to become the first female to represent the Democratic Party in a presidential race.
2021: Kamala Harris becomes the first female Vice-President of the United States.
2024: Vice-President Kamala Harris accepts the nomination to represent the Democratic Party as candidate for President of the U.S. She was the first black woman and the first Asian woman nominated to run for President.
Women’s History Month: Empower Girls and Women for the Future
We encourage everyone to read that list and learn more about the history of women in the United States. Spoiler alert:
That list barely scratches the surface of women’s contributions to the U.S.
We offer special encouragement to parents of young girls, adolescent girls, or young adult women. They may not know about all these amazing accomplishments – and when they read about them, it may boost their self-esteem, inspire them, and give them the confidence to pursue their dreams.
In Part 2 or our Women’s History Month Series, we’ll focus on women in mental health, with short profiles of two prominent women in mental health history. One from the past, with a famous name, Anna Freud, and one contemporary figure, Dr. Marsha Linehan, founder of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), one of the most effective therapeutic modalities available today for a variety of mental health disorders.
We’ll close this article with a quote from Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who ran for President n 2020. When she met young girls on the campaign trail, here’s what she said:
“My name is Elizabeth, and I’m running for President, because that’s what girls do.”
Yes, Senator Warren, indeed they do. And one day, if we’re lucky – see the research on leadership we cite in the opening of this article – we’ll elect a woman as President of the United States.
