The Carver community joins 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 in commemorating and encouraging the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history!
Like with our students, we treasure more than measure the women who lead Carver initiatives. Though our CEO, Novelette Peterkin, and each of our female board members are highly accomplished professionals, this month we celebrate them for being the all-around amazing people they are in both their individual careers and beyond.
And then there are our Carver alumna. They are making their mark in the fields of law, government, medicine, finance, entertainment, professional sports, technology, education, entrepreneurship, and the creative arts, among many other professions. They are ambitious critical thinkers who understand that achievement is not a destination but an ongoing and exciting journey. You can read some of their inspiring stories here.
Before women had the whole month, the U.S. recognized Women’s History Week; before that, a single International Women’s Day. Dedicating the whole month of March in honor of women’s achievements may seem irrelevant today. But at the time of the conception of Women’s History Week, activists saw the designation as a way to revise a written and social American history that had largely ignored women’s contributions.
Women’s History Month is a dedicated month to reflect on the often-overlooked contributions of women to United States history. From Abigail Adams to Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth to Rosa Parks, the timeline of women’s history milestones of course stretches back to the founding of the United States.
The National Women’s History Alliance designates a yearly theme for Women's History Month. The 2021 theme is a continuation of 2020's: "Valiant Women of the Vote: Refusing to Be Silenced." This theme recognizes the battle for women's suffrage, which was gained with the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920. For almost 100 years, women had been fighting for the right to vote: They made speeches, signed petitions, staged demonstrations and argued over and over again that women, like men, deserved all of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.