Inspiring Tales: Unveiling the Power of Women's History Month

By, Alexandra Lourenço

Women’s History Month is celebrated throughout March. After years of being neglected, cast aside, and undermined, women now have a month that honors our hard work. Formally, this month was established to recognize the achievements of women in American history. However, this month is truly about showing appreciation for all the women in our lives and honoring the women who fought so we could have the rights we have today. 

Doing this was no easy task. It took years for women to get rights in the United States. Women’s rights were not acknowledged until women began to petition and protest. This was the beginning of the women’s suffrage that lasted from 1840 to 1920. This movement was led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.  Women’s suffrage aimed to get women the right to vote and economic and political equality. These women walked, so women today could run! 

This wonderful month came to fruition in 1987, but the process of honoring women began in 1978. The Education Task Force of Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women, in Santa Rosa, California, created “Women’s History Week.” This took place during the week of March 8th, which is recognized as International Women’s Day. A myriad of students participated in this week by participating in an essay contest. This essay contest urged students to honor local women. 

With a parade in Santa Rosa celebrating women, the organization’s movement became renowned. This event soon became an annual commodity that was celebrated across the country. As more people began to catch wind of this, women’s activists and historians urged for this to become a national event. 

Their wishes came true in February 1980, when President Jimmy Carter declared the week of March 2-8 as National Women’s History Week. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan and Congress passed resolutions encouraging women’s organizations and schools to acknowledge and celebrate women.

Deborah Schiraldi, a History teacher at Lyndhurst High School, said this month is important because it brings attention to the hard work women did while being suppressed.

“Women have been suppressed since the beginning of time so just like other ethnicities,” Schiraldi said. “Women did a lot of things while they were suppressed that people don’t know about. Generations need to know that how we got here had a lot to do with women and what they did despite being suppressed.”

From Dorothy Vaughn, Katherine Goble, and Mary Jackson, who saved NASA in the 60s, to Eleanor Roosevelt, who helped her husband run the country, to Marie Curie, a brilliant scientist, and Charlotte Brontë, one of the most notable female writers; some so many women were put in the shadows, hiding their success for years. Numerous people were unaware of their contributions for years and in some cases decades after they had completed their work. Schiraldi said that this month is all about finally acknowledging the contributions of women and honoring their work.

She noted that there have been significant changes in the narratives of women in modern society. She said that these improvements are necessary and well deserved.

“There was no representation of women. They were brilliant and had wonderful ideas but could never express them because of their gender, whereas now we see women expressing their ideas and getting the credit for them and that’s how it should be,” Schiraldi said.

Schiraldi advises young women to familiarize themselves with female history to see how much work was put into shaping modern society in a way that women have rights.

”Don’t take it for granted because women had to fight for their independence since the beginning of time,” Schiraldi said. “Think about the women’s suffrage, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and all of those women that… had to fight for a right that should have been theirs as citizens of this country, but it was because of their gender that they had to fight for it. That should be something that our girls today should appreciate.”

When Schiraldi was looking into colleges she had a lack of support. Her father didn’t think she needed to get a college degree because he felt it was a ‘waste of money’ since she was meant to be a housewife.

“I did have to break a little bit of glass ceilings [with] that and said I wanted to be educated, but again that was because my father wasn’t educated and let’s hope that future generations don’t have to fight that fight,” Schiraldi said.

Maria Isabel Pereira came to America at the age of 22, newly wedded, without a clue on how to speak English. She did not let her gender or linguistic boundaries stop her from opening her store and becoming a true female powerhouse. She said that she thinks women’s history should be celebrated more often.

“Every day is a day to celebrate women,” Pereira said. “[March 8th] is a great day that women meet up and celebrate.”

She was lucky to be integrated into a community with a large population of Portuguese people. She said that being surrounded by people who spoke the same language as her made it easier for her. It also helped her meet women that gave her job opportunities. She had become friends with a woman named Téte shortly after her arrival. This woman gave her a job at her store, and they became close friends in the years that followed.

With her husband at work and juggling being a mother of three, working as a store clerk to becoming a CEO, maintaining the house, and cooking every day, she had a busy life. She said she could not have accomplished everything if it was not for the women who helped her. 

“I was lucky to have Téte, who would let me bring my kids to work,” Maria said. “Then when I bought the business I would take my girls to [school]….Then I would go to my store, work with clients, design dresses, sell clothing, and wait until 3 to pick up the girls and then bring them to the store with me, then they went to Portuguese school. Then I would pick them up and make dinner… then once they went to bed I would live my life and do the laundry and meal prep.”

This was no easy feat. She was lucky to have great employees work with her at the store, who would help run it when she went to pick up her kids. 

Although she did have the opportunity to have her own business and grow it, her life when the kids went to bed was that of a homemaker.  Her days were filled with business and housework. No room for much more.  She had no other choice.  Her husband worked 2 jobs outside the house, and her 2 jobs were her business and her home. She worked so hard to fulfill the stereotype of supporting her family that she failed to truly live.

”I migrated here, started a family, grew a business, but that was many hours of work. I am very proud of the business that I grew and very proud of my children as well. My advice that I would give from my experience is to live more of your life, which is what I did not do,” Pereira said.

In the end, it is important to learn from women who have faced the trials and tribulations of conforming to societal expectations. Being successful is hard on its own, but supporting so many others can be even harder. Hearing this story can remind people to be grateful for the women who fought for equality and shifted the roles men and women play.

This month is a time to celebrate all of the women in your lives and thank them for all that they do. Let us commend the go-getters and the rule-breakers who helped shape society and make the world a better place for girls today!