Today, most of us recognize March 8th as International Women’s Day, yet the holiday was instituted in the United States less than a century ago. Situated within a rich tapestry of key moments in the feminist movement, both the advent of International Women’s Day and its significance are best understood in context. A brief investigation of the historical trajectory of landmark progress points in the women’s rights movement sheds light upon the gradual formulation and development of the holiday as we know it.
Though the twentieth century brought with it many of the watershed events which combined to secure the relatively recent official acknowledgement of International Women’s Day, it is fundamental to recognize two pivotal developments which occurred during the preceding centuries.
Indeed, it is most effective to first look to the late eighteenth century, wherein one might discern a critical catalyst of subsequent feminist thought and action. On March 31, 1776, future first lady Abigail Smith Adams wrote her famous “Remember the Ladies” letter to her husband, future president John Adams. Specifically, the first lady sought to ensure that the Continental Congress incorporated rights and protections for women within the Declaration of Independence. While her requests were not heeded, Smith Adams was a trailblazer in her appeal, setting the precedent for feminist thought prior even to the country’s independence.
Nearly a century later, while the feminist movement had not yet gained the momentum which would characterize its twentieth century progress, the first organized strike by female workers occurred. On March 8, 1857, the women of New York City’s textile industry assembled, united in their fight for fair working conditions, livable wages, shorter hours, and equal rights.
About half a century later, Theresa Malkiel introduced for the first time the concept of a day commending women. Head of the Socialist Party of America’s Woman’s National Committee, Malkiel suggested the novel idea of a “National Woman’s Day.”
Abroad, women were witnessing and accomplishing parallel developments at the turn of the century. 1911, for example, marked the advent of International Women’s Day in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. Celebrated on March 19, over one million people attended rallies. Since 1913, International Women’s Day has instead been observed on March 8. From this point forward, primarily from the 1920s through the 1960s, nations worldwide established women-centered holidays. However, this piecemeal process resulted in the absence of a standardized date for the annual occasion.
In the United States, backing from second-wave feminists during the 1960s and 70s acted as a vehicle for promoting public support for the concept of International Women’s Day. The augmentation of such attention culminated in President Jimmy Carter’s 1980 establishment of the week of March 8 as “National Women’s History Week.” Two years prior, women’s history had been incorporated into American school curricula.
This momentum continued throughout the 1980s. Thanks to the petitions of the National Women’s History Project, Congress passed legislation in 1987 marking March as Women’s History Month. Ever since, U.S. presidents affirm Women’s History Month annually.
In 1996, the United Nations launched an International Women’s Day theme, ‘Celebrating the Past, Planning for the Future,’ and the process of marking each year with a theme continues. In 2010, the United Nations launched UN Women so as to enact policy and programming to advance gender equality.
The campaign theme of International Women’s Day 2025 is “Accelerate Action.” In celebration of this holiday and recognition of the plight of the women who shaped it, I will present below some works from the Van Every | Smith collections which place women at the forefront.
Artist Joyce Tenneson’s series entitled Photographs of Women is particularly thought-provoking. She employs symbolically-charged visual devices, such as the mirror and bird’s nest, to urge the viewer to ponder gender conventions and perception of womanhood.
William Weege, Venus Arrives in the USA in 1977, 1976. Screenprint on paper. 30 x 22.125 in. Gift of Lakeside Studio.
“What’s the Timeline of International Women’s Day?” internationalwomensday.com. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.internationalwomensday.com/TimeLine.
-Heidi McGannon ’26