March is Women's History Month

Every March, American cultural institutions "join in commemorating and encouraging the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history."  It's a massive topic, and yet one that is still underappreciated.  You can explore an amazing amount of women's history right at your computer, with the central website's links to exhibits and audio-visual resources.  The Library of Congress has also provided a wide array of information.  (Pro tip: if you need to write a research paper around history, social issues, or ethnic studies, browse these pages for great topic ideas!)

Come into the library (Main or CHC) and check out our displays of selected books.   We've also created an online guide filled with great information about women in history.  The official theme this year is about health and wellness, so we've included books about pioneering women in medicine.  Since we are all focused on the war in Ukraine right now, we've also included books about women in wars.  Then we threw in anything else we liked.  Here are a couple of ebooks you can try right from home:

The Boundaries of Her Body by Debran Rowland

Drawing on legal and historical sources as well as the Bible, the journals of Meriwether Lewis and Lolita, Rowland covers every imaginable aspect of women's legal lives, up to the present day.

Women and War in the Twentieth Century by Nicole A. Dombrowski, ed.

These articles attempt to survey the personal and political interests that women have as individuals and as a collectivity when nations, ethnic groups, and political organizations wage war.

A Black Women's History of the United States by Daina Ramey Berry; Kali Nicole Gross

A vibrant and empowering history that emphasizes the perspectives and stories of African American women to show how they are--and have always been--instrumental in shaping our country

Midwives of the Revolution by Jane McDermid

An analysis of the part played by women in the Russian revolution, which shows that the extent of female activists' participation in the events of 1917 was far wider that has hitherto been thought.

There's plenty of fascinating local women's history, too.  Here's a game: find historical women's names in the streets of Butte County towns!  Do you know where So Wil En No Avenue is?  It's named after a prominent Mechoopda woman, also known as Maggie Lafonso.  She was known for her beautiful singing voice and work in her community.  Or, have you ever driven down Frances Willard Avenue and wondered who that was?   She was a prominent 19th-century women's rights activist, the first dean of women at Northwestern University, and the president of the WCTU.  Both of these women were close friends of Annie Bidwell, who named streets after them.  Annie was herself very interested in women's and minority rights, and here you can see her with other suffragists of her day.

Maggie Lafonso Mitchell/Sowillenno with her husband, Joe Mitchell

Suffragists at the 3rd Women’s Congress of the Pacific Coast, held in San Francisco in May, 1896.  You may recognize Susan B. Anthony in the center, but can you spot Annie Bidwell?  She is standing, at the far right.

Photo: California Historical Society, San Francisco, CA