Those Who Hold up Half the Sky:
Celebrating Women’s History Month

March is Women’s History Month, which at first was only one day, then a week.

International Women’s Day, March 8, begun in Europe and celebrated throughout the world, has its roots in the labor movement and marks women’s struggles to achieve equal status with men. Interestingly, it was first celebrated in the US on February 28, 1909. Women’s History Week began in 1978 when an education task force in Sonoma County, California began the celebration to emphasize women’s roles that were left out of most history textbooks. Congress expanded the week to an entire month in 1987.

To participate in the celebration, plan a visit to one of our local museums, many of which boast special exhibits to honor women’s contributions to every field and profession. Here are a few ideas, just to get you started.

For extra fun and the convenience of letting someone else do the driving, take an Old Town Trolley Tour. As you ride along, you’ll learn all about Kate Sessions, the “mother” of Balboa Park, who expanded her love for plants from a little nursery to an entire park, planting hundreds of trees and caring for them herself.

Today, Balboa Park boasts not only a world-famous horticultural expanse, but a collection of world-class museums, each of which includes tributes to special women.

The San Diego Air & Space Museum pays tribute to female flyers with a developing series of exhibits highlighting the ongoing role of women in aviation. The first, “Women of Flight” opened in May, 2007, to correspond with Amelia Earhart’s historic solo flight across the Atlantic 75 years earlier. The latest, “Aerobatics,” includes a kiosk where visitors can view video clips of women performing aerobatic maneuvers and even try their hands “at the stick.” Two of the featured pilots, Patty Wagstaff and Julie Clark, are still flying.

You may be surprised by some of the many women included in the San Diego Hall of Champions and Sports Museum.  Athletes represented in this museum were born in San Diego, attended school here or played for a local team. Some of the famous athletes that have roots in our community include Gail Devers (track), Maureen “Little Mo” Connolly (tennis) and Mary Kathryn "Mickey" Wright (golf). One current exhibit, co-sponsored with the La Jolla Cove Swim Club, features that small area of beach where distance ocean swimmers stroke out to the one-mile buoy and back. Famous female San Diegans honored hereinclude Florence Chadwick and Carol Sing.

For a wonderful educational experience, don’t miss the San Diego Women’s History Museum & Educational Center. This small museum, library and archive nestled in the Golden Hill neighborhood near downtown San Diego boasts a fascinating collection of memorabilia, including many artifacts of our country’s suffragist movement. Letters from Susan B. Anthony, Votes for Women campaign buttons and a khaki outfit worn by an activist to protest President Wilson in the 1910s are among the treasures.

“All Our Grandmothers,” another of the permanent exhibits, honors the lives of women who lived here a century ago. Native American, African-American, Latin-American and Asian-American women are celebrated in the two-phase exhibit.

Diminutive likenesses of grand women make up the Muriel Fisher doll collection, donated by its namesake, a local artist. She created the dolls using her own hair, old clothes and found objects, fashioning the images of such extraordinary women as Georgia O’Keefe, Toni Morrison and Frida Kahlo.

Mao Tse-tung may get the credit for the statement, “Women hold up half the sky,” but after a day of exploring women’s history, you’ll wonder if he realized the whole story.

For more information and museum hours:
www.historictours.com
www.aerospacemuseum.org
www.SDHOC.com
www.whmec.org