Women's History Month Coordinators:
Robyn Fishman
Maite Peterson
Karen Swett
Mary Jane Biancheri
Take the time to celebrate women's contributions to history from around the world
by checking out our WHM CampusGuide
March is Women’s History Month
The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment
for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution
and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations
of women whose commitment to nature and the planet have proved invaluable to society.
Women’s History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 when Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28
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
Pub. L. 100-9 which designated the 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 year as Women’s History Month. Since 1995,
Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama have issued a series of annual proclamations designating
the month of March as “Women’s History Month.”
The creation of Women's History program at Glendale College can be credited to Dr.
Peggy Renner, Emeritus Professor of History.
Renegades Background
In 2008 Women's History Month lost its budget. Faculty across several disciplines
decided they would still hold Women's History Month—and they would start by showing
the GCC campus where women showed up in their course material. Peggy Renner in the
Women's History Department led the charge!
Faculty across the campus volunteered and opened up their classrooms to invite students,
faculty and staff to find out something new or explore a topic they had not thought
about before!
