Women's History Month: About

Each year in the month of March, Trexler Library takes the time to recognize and celebrate women—past, present, and future—who have and continue to leave lasting impacts and significant contributions in American history. Although Women's History Month wasn't officially observed until 1982, women of all demographics have fought for themselves and their rights long before significant changes took place within legislature. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Blackwell, Sandra Day O'Connor and so many more women have pioneered in the face of adversity and paved pathways for future generations of women to stand, advocate, and fight for equal rights. 

In this guide, you will find dozens of books, movies, and resources that display the determination, strength, and courage of women throughout history and women today. 

• Women's History Month
  Created by the Library of Congress, includes various collections and exhibits featuring prominent and notable women in history.
• National Women's History Museum
  Educational resources and archives, highlighting newly acquired biographies of countless women across dozens of fields.
• National Women's History Alliance
  Focuses on the Women's Suffrage Movement.

This month's display highlights women throughout history that may not have been recognized for the outstanding accomplishments and contributions to American history and society. Some notable women featured on this display are: 

• Sybil Ludington, a Revolutionary War Heroine
• Elizabeth Magie Phillips, a stenographer, feminist, and game designer
• Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu, a nuclear physicist
• Rosalind Franklin, a physical chemist and x-ray crystallographer
• Anna Arnold Hedgeman, a Civil and Women's Right's activist

You can also find title covers of books we own within our collection about these women and many others and the legacies they left on display as well.

This display was created by Trexler Library's Day Circulation Supervisor, Gloria Biser.

This year's theme for Women's History Month is "Valiant Women for the Vote: Refusing to be Silenced," an expansion of 2020's theme which celebrated the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The National Women's History Alliance organization is highlighting women who have advanced the cause of women votership and who continue to live out the mission of the original suffragists, emboldening women to use their voices today. The organization recognizes four women who represent the millions of valiant women in America: Maria Teresa Kumar, CEO of Voto Latino; Eleanor Holmes Norton, Civil Rights Leader and Congresswoman; Terry Ao Minnis, Senior Director of the Census and Voting Programs and Asian Americans Advancing Justice; and Edith Mayo, Suffrage Historian, Women’s History Movement Activist.

To read more about these women, visit: 2020-2021 National Women’s History Alliance Honorees.