In 1981, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Rep. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland co-sponsored a joint Congressional resolution proclaiming a national Women's History Week. In 1987, a group of women campaigned with representatives from museums, schools and libraries to expand the celebration, and Congress responded by declaring March as National Women's History Month that very same year!

Did you know that in the early 19th century, women were considered second-class citizens whose existence was limited to the interior life of the home and care of the children? Women were considered sub-sets of their husbands, and after marriage they did not have the right to own property, maintain their wages or sign a contract, much less vote. It was considered improper for women to travel alone or to speak in public.

We certainly have come a long way. Today we have a woman running for the Democratic ticket for President of the United States.

Gerda Lerner, author of "Women and History (1986; 1993), writes "When I started working on woman's history about 30 years ago, the field did not exist. People didn't think that women had a history worth knowing."

Here is a brief list of women who changed America:

* Jane Addams: (1860-1935) founded America's first settlement house to help poor immigrant families. In the process, she established social work as a new and respected field for educated women. For her international activism to end warfare, Addams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.

* Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931), boldly reported on the lynching of blacks in the South through newspaper articles and in her book, "A Red Record." Her well-documented reports started a nationwide anti-lynching campaign.

* Francis Perkins (1880-1965), the first woman appointed to the Cabinet of a U.S. President. As Secretary of Labor, she was instrumental in shaping legislation to create unemployment insurance, Social Security and the minimum wage.

* Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902), were prominent leaders of the 72-year movement to win the right to vote for women. The combination of Anthony's sharp political instincts with Stanton's forceful writing made them a formidable team for 50 years.

* Rachel Carson (1907-1984), researched the damage being done to the Earth by pesticides and published "Silent Spring" in 1962. The book catapulted environmental issues to the forefront of public consciousness, becoming the foundation for the modern environmental movement.

To read about these women and many others who changed America, view our Women's History Month Display in the library. Here you will find books, videos and books on tape including:

* "Ladies of Seneca Falls," by Miriam Gurko; an excellent historical account of the early phase of the women's rights movement.

* "Carrie Chapman Catt," by Kristin Thoennes; Catt restructured & organized the suffrage movement to help pass the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

* "Emily Dickinson," PBS Videotape examining the life's work of American Poet Emily Dickinson.

* "Abigail Adams," by Edith Gelles provides a literary-biographical analysis of Adam's letters.

* "Feminism," by Miriam Schneir; this book is a rich diverse collection containing excerpts from books, essays, speeches, documents, letters as well as poetry, drama and fiction.

While you are in the library, please browse our Heritage Room which houses the Abbott Sisters Research Center. The center is a collection of books and articles by and about Edith and Grace Abbott, both champions for Women's rights. Edith was a pioneer in American social work education and Grace worked tirelessly with contributions to the fields of Children's rights, Immigration rights, and Women's rights. A major influence on the Abbott sisters was their mother, Elizabeth (one of the library's first board members), who influenced the Women's Suffrage Society to give its treasury balance to the library for book purchases.