The History of International Women’s Day

 The History of International Women’s Day

Today is International Women’s Day. Around the world women will be celebrated through rallies, political action, and gifts.

To celebrate both International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month here is a timeline showing a bit of the history of International Women’s Day:

1857- New York Lower East Side Female textile/garment workers staged a protest against 12 hour work days and poor working conditions. For female trade union members this began International Women’s Day (IWD).

1909-The first National Woman’s Day occurred on February 28^th in the United States.

1910- The Copenhagen Initiative established a Women’s Day to honor the fight for women’s rights and universal suffrage. The day was approved unanimously by over 100 women from 17 countries. No fixed date had been chosen yet though.

1911-Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland held rallies for International Women’s Day for the first on March 19^th.

1914-International Women’s Day became part of anti-war movement during World War I. Russian women observed their country’s first IWD on the last Sunday of February. Other places in Europe celebrated around March 8^th by holding rallies and/or protesting the war.

1917-Again Russian women protested on IWD and four days later the Czar stepped down and the provisional government gave women the right to vote.

1975-was designated as ‘International Women’s Year‘ by the United Nations.

1978-The Education Task Force of Sonoma County in California began “Women’s History Week.” It was purposely chosen to occur along with IWD.

1987-A Congressional resolution made March Women’s History Month nationally.

Today- IWD continues to have its political roots, but is also a day to just take a moment to recognize and pay respect to the women in our lives.

IWD is now an official holiday in China, Angola, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and many other countries.

To find an event or more information about International Women’s Day visit http://www.internationalwomensday.com/

Happy International Women’s Day