Women’s History Month began in 1981 when US President Jimmy Carter proclaimed the week beginning March 7, 1982, as “Women’s History Week.” Five years later, Congress designated March as the month to celebrate women's history after petitioning by the National Women's History Project (now called the National Women's History Alliance).
March 8 is International Women's Day, "a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality." The first one was celebrated in 1911!
To celebrate women's history month in March, the SLRC has created a banner of four remarkable women in history in the fields of politics, sports, humanity, and arts at the entrance.
Four amazing women in Texas history in the fields of politics, sports, humanity, and arts. See these banners on display at the library entrance during March!
In 2019, the library hosted a Human Library event where women with a variety of experiences served as the “books.” Students were able to move around the room and pick a “book” to learn more about and ask questions.
In 2018, the library partnered with student life to host a series of panels on "Fierce Women in History, Fiction, and Leadership."
In 2017, the library displayed the poster (below) at the front of the library for Women's History Month. We viewed and discussed Reshma Saujani’s TED Talk “Teach girls bravery, not perfection” with Dr. Veronique Tran, Dean of Math and Science as the moderator. Additionally, the library participated in the Women’s Resource Fair on campus as well.
In 2016, the library again hosted an essay contest but expanded the mediums to also include video and audio submissions. The theme was Working to Form a More Perfect Union: Honoring Women in Public Service and Government. (See previous years to look at other essay contests.)
In 2015, we again hosted an essay contest with the theme of Weaving the Story of Women's Lives, which emphasized writing women back into history, as so many of women's extraordinary triumphs and successes go unrecognized. We also participated in the campus Women’s Fair to promote library resources that especially focused on information for and about women. During the fair, we played a Twitter-style trivia quiz with students featuring women in history.
In 2014, the library and Student Life hosted an essay contest celebrating Women of Character, Courage, and Commitment honoring the extraordinary and often unrecognized determination and tenacity of women.
Daily emails were also created by the librarians and sent to all LSC-University Park employees highlighting women in Arts & Humanities, Business, Education & Government, and STEM.
Created by: Blaire Hiebsch
First published: Spring 2021
Currently maintained by: Megan Hopwood
Lone Star College-University Park • Student Learning Resource Center
20515 SH 249 • Building 12, 8th Floor • Houston, TX 77070
This work by Lone Star College-University Park Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.