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Talk with the Doc: March is Women’s History Month

Dr. Jim Surrell, Journal columnist

The Library of Congress, along with numerous other United States governmental agencies, joined together to declare the month of March as Women’s History Month. This declaration was done to recognize and celebrate the vital role of women who have made so many significant contributions throughout American history.

Women’s History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 when Congress passed a bill which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982 as “Women’s History Week.” Throughout the next five years, Congress continued to pass joint resolutions designating a week in March as “Women’s History Week.” In 1987 after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project, Congress passed another bill which then designated the entire month of March 1987 as “Women’s History Month.”

Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions requesting and authorizing the president to proclaim March of each and every year as Women’s History Month. Since 1995, additional Presidents have issued a series of annual proclamations designating the month of March as “Women’s History Month.” These proclamations celebrate the contributions women have made to the United States and recognize the specific achievements women have made over the course of American history in a variety of fields.

The very first celebration of women’s history grew out of a weeklong celebration of women’s contributions to culture, history and society organized by the school district of Sonoma, California, in 1978. Presentations were given at dozens of schools, hundreds of students participated in a “Real Woman” essay contest and a parade was held in downtown Santa Rosa.

A few years later, after this initial California celebration, the idea of celebrating women’s history in the USA caught on within communities, school districts and organizations across the country. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week. The U.S. Congress followed suit the next year, passing a resolution establishing a national celebration. Six years later, the National Women’s History Project successfully petitioned Congress to expand the event to the entire month of March, as it is celebrated today.

The National Women’s History Alliance designates a new theme every year for Women’s History Month. The 2022 theme is “Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope.” This theme is “both a tribute to the ceaseless work of caregivers and frontline workers during this ongoing pandemic and to also recognize the thousands of ways that women of all cultures have provided both healing and hope throughout our United States history.”

Let me close now with a brief review of a very famous woman physician and researcher, who made monumental cancer treatment contributions. Dr. Jane Cooke Wright is credited as having been one of the initial cancer researchers to discover cancer chemotherapy. She was the daughter and granddaughter of African American physicians. In 1964, Dr. Wright was the only woman among seven physicians who helped to found the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Then, in 1971, she was the first woman elected president of the New York Cancer Society. In 1967, Dr. Wright was appointed associate dean and head of the Cancer Chemotherapy Department at New York Medical College. She was also appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to serve on the National Cancer Advisory Board and also on the President’s Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke. Clearly, she was a very talented woman who made very many significant health care contributions that have served so many. Of course, this is just one example of the many women who have made so many contributions to the ongoing success of the United States of America!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Jim Surrell is the author of “The ABC’s For Success In All We Do” and the “SOS (Stop Only Sugar) Diet” books.Contact Dr. Surrell by email at sosdietdoc@gmail.com.

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