“The hope and sense of possibility that comes to our lives from the inspirational work of women.”

2004 National Women’s History Month Honorees Source: National Women’s History Project  Sarah Buel  Jill Ker Conway  Edna Campbell

Source: National Women’s History Project  Marian Wright Edelman  Dr. Susan B. Love  Maxine Hong Kingston  Vilma Martinez  Leslie Marmon Silko

Congressional Resolution Designating the Month of March as “Women’s History Month” Whereas American women of every culture, class, and ethnic background have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our Nation in countless recorded and unrecorded ways; Whereas American women have played and continue to play a critical economic, cultural, and social role in every sphere of the life of the Nation by constituting a significant portion of the labor force working inside and outside of the home;

Whereas American women have played a unique role throughout the history of the Nation by providing the majority of the volunteer labor force of the Nation; Whereas American women were particularly important in the establishment of early charitable, philanthropic, and cultural institutions in our Nation; Whereas American women of every culture, class, and ethnic background served as early leaders in the forefront of every major progressive social change movement;

Whereas despite these contributions, the role of American women in history has been consistently overlooked and undervalued, in the literature, teaching and study of American history: Whereas American women have been leaders, not only in securing their own rights of suffrage and equal opportunity, but also in the abolitionist movement, the emancipation movement, the industrial labor movement, the civil rights movement, and other movements, especially the peace movement, which create a more fair and just society for all; and

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that March is designated as "Women's History Month." The President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

Q) One of the most important Union spies and scouts during the Civil War was a Black woman who had escaped from slavery. Can you name her? A) Harriet Tubman ( ), who also led over 300 people in their escape from slavery via the system of safe-houses known as the Underground Railroad. Q) Who printed the first copy of the Declaration of Independence that included the signers’ names? A) Mary Katherine Goddard ( ), newspaper publisher, had such a strong reputation in the colonies that when Congress fled to Baltimore in 1776, they trusted her with the revolutionary task of printing their treasonous document. Goddard risked arrest by the British when she included her own name as printer. Q) The line of beauty products she created for African American people made her the first Black woman millionaire in the U.S. Who was she? A) In 1905, Madam C.J. Walker ( ) began developing an effective hair lotion, and then a special comb to straighten curly hair.