Women’s History, Accomplishments Celebrated Every March

Washington -- In 1981, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution establishing National Women's History Week. In 1987, Congress expanded the week to a month, and has since passed such a resolution every year. Congressional action is followed by a U.S. presidential proclamation declaring March as Women’s History Month.

Since its founding in 1980, the National Women’s History Project (NWHP) has recognized and celebrated the rich and varied contributions of women to the history and culture of the United States.

In introducing the 2008 Women's History Month theme, Women’s Art: Women’s Vision, NWHP says, “The history of women and art is quintessential women’s history. It is the story of amazing women’s accomplishments acclaimed at the time but written out of history.”

The accomplishments of 12 women artists are being honored in 2008. Two are historical figures: Violet Oakley (1874-1961), who in 1902 was commissioned to paint murals in the Pennsylvania capitol building -- the largest public commission given to an American woman up to that time -- and Rose O’Neill (1874-1944), one of the first female cartoonists in America and the inventor of the Kewpie doll.

The other honorees are Edna Hibel, an internationally renowned artist who has been painting for more than 70 years; Taiwan-born Lihua Lei, who incorporates references to her life as a polio victim into her multimedia installations; Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, one of today’s most acclaimed American Indian artists; Faith Ringgold, who creates painted story quilts -- art that combines painting, quilted fabric and storytelling; Miriam Schapiro, a pioneer in feminist art and co-founder in 1972 of the A.I.R. (Artists in Residence) Gallery in New York, the first collective of women artists in the United States; Lorna Simpson, who uses African-American women as a visual point of departure in drawings, photographs and video; June Wayne, whose lithographs are recognized as masterpieces of the medium; Nancy Spero, a painter whose art focuses on the struggle of women around the world; Harmony Hammond, a painter who lectures and writes on feminist art and lesbian art; and Judy Chicago, a multimedia artist whose best-known work is The Dinner Party.

For more information see the National Women’s History Project Web site.

The National Women’s History Project also recognizes International Women’s Day March 8. More information on International Women’s Day and The United Nations and the Status of Women is available on the United Nations Web site.

Louise Fenner / Staff Writer

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