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SCSU honors Women's History Month with events
By Jenni Rauchbauer/Contributing Writer
Spring has come, and along with it National Women's History Month. This is the time to recognize women through their attributes, creations and contributions.
Women's History Month is not something just for the new millennium, though. The first International Women's Day was celebrated March 8, 1911, and events have been celebrated in decades before the 2000s.
In the 1960s, women's rights were a political hot topic in the U.S. as well as in Europe. Betty Friedan and the "women's liberation" movement was used to broaden women's issues, which is where women's history blossomed.
During the 1970s, colleges were teaching women's history and high schools began their own Women's History Week programs.
Finally in 1987, Congress changed the celebration of women from a week to a full month.
Women's History Month is designed so that people can become aware of the knowledge of women's history. To take one month out of the year and remember the notable and ordinary women who have contributed their time shows that there is a will for women's rights and that people are striving to achieve them.
Women such as Susan B. Anthony who, at only 29, was involved in gaining the right for women to vote. Radical labor organizer, Mother Jones in her late 50s protested child labor to President Roosevelt in 1903. Talk show host Jay Leno's wife, Mavis Leno has been reported as the most outspoken critic of the Taliban's horrific treatment of women in Afghanistan for the U.S.
Each of these women's contributions have brought women closer to their goal of equality. To keep on the path of working toward this goal, the Women's Center has brought a month full of speakers, poets, short films and dance theatre to show how far women have come.
Kerri Roesner, graduate assistant at the Women's Center, believes that Women's History Month is a good education tool.
"Women's History Month is important because it acknowledges and celebrates women's accomplishments and a way to learn about women and their experiences," she said.
Through these activities available, women are striving to learn about their past, as well as anticipate their future.
"Manifest A: Young Women, Feminism and the Future," a book written by Amy Richards and Jennifer Baumgardner, will be presented March 20 in the Kimberly A. Ritsche Auditorium. The book is about women's struggle in history and shows their achievements along with the goals that have yet to be fulfilled.
Judy Richardson, producer of PBS's "Eyes on the Prize" shows the dedication of the everyday struggle for Civil Rights in America. Richarson will be sharing her experience with the Civil Rights Movement at 3 p.m. March 25 in Kimberly A. Ritsche Auditorium. She will also talk about her talents in the creative arts.
There are other activities throughout March and into April. For more information, pick up a brochure at the Women's Center or call (320) 255-4958.
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