There is a pervasive, yet totally incorrect assumption inculcated into students, that women have played no vital roles in the political, economic and social development of our culture. Few teachers, during the course of their own training, have been introduced to the personalities, events and issues of women's history. Combine this lack of a teacher information base with the paucity of multicultural information about women in most of the new textbooks and the consequences for developing minds are grim.

Certain notable women do make guest appearances in discussions and textbooks, of course. Harriet Tubman, Civil War nurse, spy and scout for the Union Army and fearless conductor on the Underground Railroad is one. Sojourner Truth, a fiery speaker for abolition and women's rights during the same period is another popular figure. Eleanor Roosevelt is beginning to receive recognition for her influence as First Lady and her later, international humanitarian work. But there is little mention of two of Roosevelt's powerful contemporaries. Mary McLeod Bethune, a pioneering African-American educator, was also a very influential advisor to President Roosevelt, as a member of his unofficial "Black Cabinet." Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins was instrumental in the passage of Social Security and unemployment insurance, and argued forcefully for universal health care. Oversights like these, when they become the norm, negatively affect the developing attitudes of both sexes. They deal an especially severe blow to the self-esteem of girls who are being taught by omission that women, people like themselves, do not achieve in the society. As a nation, we cannot afford to continue omitting the stories of half our citizens from our history lessons.

Introducing Women

The National Women's History Project (NWHP) is at the forefront of the effort to introduce more women into the telling of our national story. The NWHP was established in 1980 as a nonprofit educational organization. Using a variety of approaches, they have proceeded to successfully promote multicultural women's history in elementary and secondary schools, colleges, workplaces, and communities nationwide.

From the outset it was clear to the NWHP founders that many classroom teachers felt a sincere desire to integrate women into their curricula but lacked information. The NWHP addressed this impediment directly, conducting training programs through which they introduced teachers at all grade levels to a wide variety of women's history information, effective teaching strategies, and multicultural resources. The response continues to be extremely positive.

To supply teachers with the materials they need, in 1981 the NWHP undertook a systematic review of virtually every nonfiction book, poster set and educational film about women's historic experiences in the United States that was being commercially distributed. They instituted a mail-order resource service the following year to provide the best of what they found to teachers wherever they lived. Over the ensuing 15 years their Women's History Catalog has grown to include over three-hundred of the best of these items within its 48 pages; 250,000 copies of the catalog are distributed annually.

These resources can help every teacher quickly become familiar with individuals like pioneer Congress- woman and pacifist Jeannette Rankin, Indian rights advocate Sarah Winnemucca, woman suffrage organizer Elizabeth Cady Stanton, folklorist Zora Neale Hurston, or inventor Gertrude Elion. They can also bring attention to women's pivotal roles in the Revolutionary War, the westward movement, the Progressive era and all other major social/political events in U.S. history.

Women's History Month

One of the first activities of the National Women's History Project was to propose that the week including March 8 (International Women's Day) be designated Women's History Week on school calendars. During those five school days, teachers could begin exploring women's history with their students, working together toward a solution for the history mystery, "What have women done?" Then, since 1987, the entire month of March was proclaimed National Women's History Month by the U.S. Congress, citing the fact that "the role of American women in history has been consistently overlooked and undervalued in the literature, teaching and study of American history." Activities in schools, organizations, and worksites have been undertaken in all states in annually increasing numbers ever since.

Programs take every form imaginable. Along with book reports and research papers about individual women, skits are performed, poster and essay competitions and parades are held, display cases and exhibits of all kinds are assembled.

National History Day competitions have reflected the growth in interest in women's history very directly. Entries focusing on the lives of women have multiplied radically during the past five years as more students have become aware of the expanded range of topics women's history provides. The NWHP encourages competitors and their advisors through research assistance and cash prizes for women's history topics both in California and at the national level.

The Next Steps?

Excellent, multicultural materials for bringing women's contributions to the fore are available now, major teaching and learning tools just waiting to be tapped. Isn't it time all of our schools begin to do just that?

Remember: For students the equation is straightforward: if you're seen and discussed in class, you're important. If you're not, you're unimportant. For social scientists, the outcome seems clear: When the contributions and perspectives of women are taught along with those of men, girls gain greater self-esteem and boys gain more respect for girls and women.

If women's history is little-known territory for you, contact the National Women's History Project. They will send you a free, 48-page Women's History Catalog, brimming with information!^*