March is Women’s History Month and today is International Women’s Day. Lorton has played a significant role in the fight to bring true equality to women. In 1917, more than 120 women were imprisoned in the Occoquan Workhouse portion of the Lorton Prison for picketing at the White House for the right to vote.
The conditions the women endured, including beatings and forced feedings, brought attention to the suffrage movement, and helped to pressure President Woodrow Wilson to recommend the passage of the Susan B. Anthony amendment.
Finally, on August 26, 1920, fifty years after African-American men were given the right to vote, the 19th amendment was ratified. American women finally could participate in the national political process.
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Before the 1970’s little attention was given to the topic of women’s history, and women were largely ignored in the records of history. Seeking to correct this, the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women in 1978 initiated “Women’s History Week.” They chose the week of March 8 for their celebration, to coincide with International Women’s Day.
According to the website, "International Women's Day honors the work of the Suffragettes, celebrates women's success, and reminds of inequities still to be redressed." This year marks the centenary of the celebration.
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In 1981, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Representative Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) cosponsored the first Joint Congressional Resolution proclaiming a national Women’s History Week. The National Women’s History Project lobbied Congress in 1987 to expand the celebration to one month. National Women’s History Month has been celebrated every year since.
The Library of Congress, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Gallery of Art, the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration all have collaborated on the Women’s History Month Website. This valuable resource includes information about exhibits and collections, images, audio, video, and materials for teachers.
The Lorton Heritage Society has installed a Women’s History Month exhibit in the Harry Lattimore display case at Lorton Library.
