Women’s History Month celebrates past and future

At the dawn of Women’s History Month this weekend, celebrations rightly run rampant throughout the United States and the world.

Those towering glass ceilings that have kept women down from reaching the pinnacles of success for centuries have been shattering at a fast and furious pace – particularly over the past 12 months.

Take U.S. politics, for starters. A tsunami of estrogen is energizing this new session of the U.S. Congress, thanks to last fall’s midterm elections that saw a record 102 women elected to the House and 15 to the Senate.

Among them were the nation’s first Muslim American and Native Americans to serve in the chief lawmaking branch of our government.

Elsewhere, voters in Ireland struck down one of the most draconian anti-woman abortion bans in the developed world.

In Saudi Arabia, women finally won the right to drive legally.

And throughout the world, the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and sexual abuse of women gained astonishingly strong momentum.

Yet in spite of those accomplishments and advances, lingering and oftentimes demeaning stereotypes and antiquated social mores continue to marginalize women’s rightful and paramount place in history and in contemporary culture.

Thus as our nation observes Women’s History Month over the next four weeks, it’s an opportune time to cast aside the stereotypes, recognize the pivotal role of women in our nation’s past and commit to tearing down more walls that stunt the full potential of women in enriching our community and our country now and in the future.

ROOTS OF WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH

The birth of March as Women’s History Month took place in 1987 after the national Women’s History Project had lobbied the federal government for seven years, arguing in part that the observance was needed because less than 5 percent of content in standard American history textbooks focuses on women. Clearly women’s contributions to our heritage merit more than a 5 percent crumb of the American pie.

In the ensuing three decades, women have received more ink in those textbooks, but, as in many other spheres, they continue to fight to play catch-up.

As researchers Annie Chiponda and Johan Wassermann concluded in their study in the journal Yesterday and Today, “Women continue to be portrayed as historically unimportant and incapable, contributing little to society outside of the domestic [household] sphere.”

This month’s observance therefore should serve as one concrete foundation on which to debunk such myths. As President Donald J. Trump points out in his proclamation for Women’s History Month: “Time and time again, women have demonstrated resilience in the face of unprecedented challenges. America’s women have readily tackled the disruptive forces and demands of wartime and embraced the technological and industrial advancements of the past 250 years.”

One need not look far to find-real life stories that illustrate our president’s salute to the important roles women have played in all spheres of American life.

In the Mahoning Valley, consider Catherine Dougherty Hillman, who in the late 18th century helped to build the first log cabin, the first frame house and the first tavern in downtown Youngstown.

Consider the pioneer spirit of Margaret Van Horn Dwight, great-grandmother of Sir Winston Churchill, who braved the relentless elements in traveling from Connecticut to Warren, Ohio, in the early 1800s to help establish the capital of the Western Reserve.

Consider the soaring feat of Youngstowner Mary Ann Campana, who on June 4, 1933, set the world’s light airplane endurance record of 12 hours, 27 minutes flying over Youngstown.

Or consider the legacy of Harriet Taylor Upton of Warren, one of the most prominent fighters for women’s right to vote. She worked alongside Susan B. Anthony from 1890 to the adoption of the 19th Amendment providing female suffrage in 1920.

By exploring these and many other examples of women’s rich contributions to our culture, we can tear down stereotypes and banish archaic thinking to better understand the critical role women have played in our history and the increasingly dominant role they are playing in making our history