March is Women's History Month

My first reaction when hearing this designation for the month of March was, "Really? If March is Women's History Month, then when is Men's History Month?" On second thought, in spite of my skepticism, I decided to google the phrase and see just how seriously people are taking this idea.

Interestingly, I discovered that 2010 will see the 30th anniversary of the National Women’s History Project (NWHP). This organization's website explains, "When we began mobilizing the lobbying effort that resulted in President Carter issuing a Presidential Proclamation declaring the week of March 8, 1980 as the first National Women’s History Week, we had no idea what the future would bring. And then, in 1987, another of our successful lobbying efforts resulted in Congress expanding the week into a month, and March is now National Women’s History Month." [ http://www.nwhp.org/ ]
So there we have it. It is truly an official designation for this month, thanks to President Carter's proclamation.

Another couple of paragraphs on the NWHP website interest me in light of the fact that In the Footsteps of Phoebe records - for the first time - many thoughts, actions, and activities of women during important eras in church history. For example:
"The overarching theme for 2010 and our 30th Anniversary celebration is Writing Women Back into History. It often seems that the history of women is written in invisible ink. Even when recognized in their own times, women are frequently left out of the history books. To honor our 2010 theme, we are highlighting pivotal themes from previous years. Each of these past themes recognizes a different aspect of women’s achievements, from ecology to art, and from sports to politics."