Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
March is Women's History Month in the U.S., but there is an ongoing celebration of women's history out on the World Wide Web, as well.
Scores of Web sites emphasize the role of women in shaping human history from the days of ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece to modern America.
The idea of Women's History Month began with a Women's History Week in Sonoma County in 1978. The week was chosen to coincide with International Women's Day that was first celebrated in March 1911 in Europe.
Three years later, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution establishing National Women's History Week, which was expanded to a month in 1987. Ever year since then, Congress has issued a resolution for Women's History Month.
The National Women's History Project was the organization behind creating the monthlong celebration 19 years ago. Today, you can find the organization's Web site at http://www.nwhp.org. Among the offerings on this site is a list of the 2006 honorees. The theme for this year's Women's History Month, according to the organization is "Women: Builders of Communities & Dreams."
A comprehensive guide to women's history is available at http://womenshistory.about.com. This site not only offers many articles about the accomplishments of women throughout the ages, but you can even sign up for a course that will take you on a tour of women's history from A to Z. The course sends you one issue per day via e-mail during the month of March, but it may be a little too late to start that this month. However, you can sign up for one issue per week for the remainder of the year until the alphabet is complete.
Gale Resources offers women's history resources at http://www.gale.com/free\_resources/whm. You'll find biographies of significant women, a quiz based on women and their achievements, a timeline of significant events in women's history and suggested activities to coincide with Women's History Month.
Before it was a U.S. celebration, Women's History Month began as an international celebration in Europe.
The Women's International Center offers a history of women's rights at http://www.wic.org/misc/history.htm. The same Web site offers biographies of women who have made history, words of wisdom from prominent women and the contributions of women around the world.
Infoplease, the online almanac, celebrates Women's history at http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenshistory1.html. Features include famous firsts by American women, a Women's Hall of Fame and women Pulitzer Prize winners for letters, drama, music and journalism. Crossword puzzles based on women and their achievements are available for downloading and printing.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica Guide to Women's History at http://www.britannica.com/women presents "300 Women Who Changed the World." It includes biographies of the women including where they lived and what they did. The site also offers a timeline and quotes from these women. For teachers and those who want to make women's history part of a study program, there are suggested learning activities.
Find something online you think others should know about? Or do you have a question? Let Dave Peyton know. His e-mail address is davepeyton@davepeyton.com.
postCount('bd3vPeyton134536824'); | postCountTB('bd3vPeyton134536824');
To see more of InsideVC.com, or to subscribe, go to www.InsideVC.com.
� 2004 InsideVC.com. All Rights Reserved.
