March is Women’s History Month
Celebrating the Milestones that Formed the Path

By Carol Fisher-Linn

    Let’s pretend it’s the 1960’s. “The Pill” was just released, and so was a tranquilizer/sleeping pill women took during pregnancy called Thalidomide, which was proven to cause fetal deformities. (Note: it was never tested on pregnant women.) Abortion was illegal throughout the US and therapeutic abortions were rarely allowed, so more than ten thousand children were born with hands at their shoulders, shortening and absence of limbs, malformation of hands and digits, damage to ears and eyes, sensory impairment, facial disfigurement/palsy and damage to the brain, internal organs and skeletal structure.

     In 1962, twenty-eight percent of businesses polled in a study regarded a woman’s appearance and “sex appeal” as a “must” job qualification in sales and service industries. “How Nice to be a Pretty Girl and Work in Washington” was the title of an article in a 1962 Life Magazine. In 1963, after 20 years, the Equal Pay Act was passed by the U. S. Congress, amending the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide equal pay for equal work without discrimination on the basis of sex. (Find demeaning comments by men in high places at nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org.) 

    In 1962, artist Larry Griffis (the beloved artist who established Ashford’s Griffis Park) created a statue named “Spirit of Womanhood.” The statue, sculpted in cold-rolled steel is an elongated figure of a woman holding a six-foot-diameter hoop – symbolic of the world, eternity, and the cycle of life – triumphantly over her head. According to the inscription on the base, the statue was commissioned by James G. Forsyth and installed at Delaware Park in honor of Marian de Forest, a Buffalo woman who founded Zonta International (December 1962). Imagine founding Zonta in the political/social 1962 climate. Gutsy gal!

     The problem was, the statue wasn’t particularly well-received and was the subject of much controversy. You see, women were not so much elevated in the ‘60’s. We were to be seen as candy on a male arm, accepting our established roles in our patriarchal society. Our job was to run a household and bear lots of children. Society was not happy with the women who said, “no more,” and fought to claim rights we have long been denied. (And the fight goes on).  Thanks to women like Eleanore Roosevelt, Margaret Chase Smith who had the audacity to run for President in 1964, and feminists who defied the cultural “rules,” the door of opportunity and equality began to squeak open.  Meanwhile, please remember that women had been fighting for rights equal to their male counterparts since September 25, 1921, again in 1923 in Seneca Falls, NY and have watched it introduced in every congressional session between 1921 and 1972 where it almost never reached the floor. Today March 13, 2025, the ERA has been ratified by the required 38 states, it is 50 years since it was passed by Congress, yet it still sits in limbo.

     So, when one questions why March celebrates women’s history, it might have something to do with the fact that even though women are still not quite considered equals in our modern society, finally, President Carter acted on the need for women’s recognition.

    Here’s what he said to the nation when he designated March 2-8, 1980 (45 years ago) as National Women’s History Week (Now Women’s History Month):

   “From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well. As Dr. Gerda Lerner has noted, “Women’s History is Women’s Right.” – It is an essential and indispensable heritage from which we can draw pride, comfort, courage, and long-range vision.”       

    Understanding the true history of our country will help us to comprehend the need for full equality under the law for all our people. This goal can be achieved by ratifying the 27th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states that “Equality of Rights under the Law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Since 1995, all American Presidents must issue an annual proclamation designating Women’s History Month. Happy Women’s History month, ladies. Let’s all celebrate YOU!