March is Women's History Month

March is “Women's History Month,” a federally mandated observance in the United States that encourages people to think about the ways women have shaped U.S. history.

The month of March has been so designated because it also coincides with the March 8 International Women’s Day observance, which was established in the early 1900s to honor the movement for women's rights.

The U.S. Congress established Women’s History Month in 1987.

The U.S. Congress established Women’s History Month in 1987. Since 1992, every U.S. president has issued a proclamation declaring the observance.

International Women's Day (IWD) has been observed since the early 1900s, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world. Fifteen thousand women marched through New York City in 1908 demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. A century later, the pertinence of this event is honored through International Women’s Day 2008 global theme “Shaping Progress.”

Annually on March 8, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate their achievements, according to the International Women’s Day Web site, http://www.internationalwomensday.com. While there are many large-scale initiatives, the IWD site points out that a “rich and diverse fabric of local activity connects women from all around the world” ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events to local women's craft markets, theatrical performances and fashion parades.

IWD’s site says many global corporations have also started to more actively support IWD by running their own internal events and through supporting external ones. It cites, for example, search engine giant Google, who on March 8 changes its logo on its global search pages.

Last year Nortel sponsored IWD activities in more than 20 countries and thousands of women participated.

Last year Nortel sponsored IWD activities in more than 20 countries and thousands of women participated. Nortel continues to connect its global workforce though a coordinated program of high-level IWD activity, as does Accenture both virtually and offline. Accenture supports more than 2,000 of its employees to participate in its International Women's Day activities that include leadership development sessions, career workshops and corporate citizenship events held across six continents, in eight cities in the United States and in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Spain, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Accenture also coordinated an IWD Webcast featuring stories about Accenture women worldwide that ran uninterrupted for 30 hours across 11 time zones via Accenture's intranet.

Around the world, websites link to the IWD site, http://www.internationalwomensday.com/. There are currently 564 IWD 2008 events listed from 50 different countries.

For more information about Women’s History Month, visit the CNN Student News site, http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/studentnews/02/29/
one.sheet.womens.history.month/, which has prepared a one-page summary that describes the month’s history and gives a status report on women in the United States today. For instance, as of Oct. 1, 2007, there were 154 million females in the United States. That number exceeds the number of males by approximately four million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Facts and Figures on Women.

Chapel service observance

The General Board of Church & Society observed International Women’s Day in its weekly Wednesday chapel worship this week. Jamie Michaels, US-2 missionary assigned to the board’s seminar program, wrote a prayer for the observance:

Grandmother God,

Your children cry out to you for comfort. In this place, hunger is our guide. Hunger has taught us many things, and our need is often all that feeds us. Help us to become bread for one another, and bread for the world, easing the pangs of loneliness and hunger.

Out of the Earth you have raised the elements: flour, yeast, water, salt. You have given us able bodies and willing spirits. You have granted time and space. Grant now that we may bring our attention, our awareness, our presence, to the table. Bring us to one another, knowing that together we are stronger than any one of us is alone, knowing that our struggles are one, knowing that our neighbors are ourselves.

And then, when we have gathered, put us to work. Knead us as we knead the dough, as we feel its density. Shape and mold us. Set us to raise and be with us in our waiting. Sing with us songs of joy. Purify us as with fire. Cool us in the morning air.

Your world is a kitchen where your people bake the bread of compassion. Here it is broken and shared with all around a table of love. Here we open ourselves and are filled. Grant now that we may return that fullness to your world. That we may heal the wounded, comfort the afflicted, preach good news to the poor, and set the oppressed free. You, O Creator, have indeed anointed your daughters. Prepare us now for the tasks ahead.

Amen.