March 2005 marked the 18th year celebrating Women's History Month. This special celebration has its origins in the "Women's History Week" organized in 1978 by the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women in California. The week was chosen to coincide with International Women's Day, which was first celebrated March 8, 1911, in Europe.

In 1981, the United States Congress passed a resolution establishing National Women's History Week, which was expanded to a month in 1987 at the request of the National Women's History Project. Every year since then the U.S. Congress has issued a resolution for Women's History Month.

A number of resources are available to learn more about women in history. Two outstanding ones are:

1. Thomson Gale

(http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/whm/index.htm)

Thomson Gale has assembled a collection of activities and information to complement classroom topics. Within this site, teachers and students can:

• Read biographies of significant women throughout time

• Take a quiz based on women and their achievements

• Follow a timeline of significant events in women's history

• Enjoy activities taken from the Women's History Month Resource Book and excerpts from Women's Rights on Trial

2. infoplease

(http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenshistory1.html)

A variety of information and resources are available broken down into the following categories:

History and Timelines

• The History of Women's History

• International Women's Day (March 8)

• Timeline: U.S. Women's Rights Movement

• Famous Firsts by American Women

• The Wage Gap: A History

• Declaration of Sentiments

• Encyclopedia: Feminism

• Five Women's Museums to Know

• Notable Speeches by U.S. Women-New!

Special Features

• Women by the Numbers

• Quotations by Women

• The First Ladies Portrait Gallery

• Women Political Leaders Throughout History

• Top Female CEOs

• For Kids: Women of Influence

Prize Winners and Honorees

• Women's Hall of Fame

• Women Nobel Prize Winners

• Women Pulitzer Prize Winners for Letters, Drama, and Music

• Women Pulitzer Prize Winners in Journalism

Fun Stuff

• Women Who Left Their "Stamps" on History

• Crossword: Women Songwriters

• Crossword: Women Writers

• Crossword: Women in Sports

• Crossword: First Ladies & Kids

• Crossword: "Her-Story"

• Quiz: First Ladies

• Quiz: Female Writers and Performers

• Quiz: Groundbreaking Women

• Quiz: Women of the Ancient World

• Quiz: Women in History

• Quiz: Suffrage Movement

Awards and Achievers

• Women's Hall of Fame

• Nobelists

• Pulitzers

• Women in Gov't

• Women in Sports

Health and Reproductive Issues

• Contraceptive Use

• Abortion Statistics

• Legal Abortions in Selected Countries

• The Abolition of Female Genital Mutilation

• Smoking Statistics, by Sex

• Heavy Alcohol Use, by Sex

Crime

• National Violence Against Women Survey

• Domestic Violence Statistics

• Total Arrest Trends by Sex

• Women on Death Row

Other Resources

• Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America's Women Physicians

• Fathom Knowledge Network: Women's History Month Resources

• The National Women's History Project

• National Organization for Women

• The American Association of University Women

• The National Women's Health Information Center

• MADRE: International Women's Human Rights Organization

Population

• Ratio of Males to Females

• Persons 65 Years Old and Over: Characteristics by Sex

• Life Expectancy, by Sex

Education

• Educational Attainment by Sex

• Percent of High School Dropouts by Sex

• Mean Annual Earnings by Level of Education

Work

• Women in the Labor Force

• Mothers Participating in Labor Force

• Percent of Women Employed in Select Occupations

• Women's Earnings as a Percentage of Men's Active Duty Servicewomen by Branch of Service and Rank

Motherhood and Family

• Marital Status

• Median Age at First Marriage

• Births by Age and Race of Mother

• Families by Type, Race, and Hispanic Origin

• Teen Birth Rates Decline

In recognition of Women's History Month, visit one of the Web sites above and see what new information you can learn about remarkable women in history.