This week The Selma Times-Journal will celebrate the women of Dallas County’s history.

With the celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, Women’s History Month is throughout the entire month of March although the monthly celebration does stem from the international celebration.

What began as just Women’s History Week was celebrated after the first International Women’s Day in 1911. The week was first observed in 1978 by the school district of Sonoma, California. A national celebration as held 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 March be proclaimed each year as Women’s History Month.

Since 1995, Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have issued a series of annual proclamations designating the month of March as “Womens’ History Month.”

Our contributing author James G. Smith will publish an article in Wednesday’s paper about the women “in our area who have and are still making a difference.”

These recognitions from Smith include WWII veteran Geraldine Vaden of Marion who served in the Army Nurses Corps in Oran, North Africa, the “First Lady” of Gospel, Jannie Venter, Kitty Singley, Jane Moore and Anna Speir.

Others will be recognized as well.

We join Smith in recognizing these women who have made a difference in our community throughout the years and hope that you will enjoy his article.

Look for it in Wednesday’s edition of The Selma Times-Journal.

Source:womenhistorymonth.gov.