In recent years, those towering glass ceilings that have kept women down from reaching the pinnacles of success have been shattering at a fast and furious pace.
In politics, Kamala Harris became the first woman, the first black American and the first South Asian American elected vice president, and she fell only 1.5% behind victor Donald Trump in the presidential popular vote. In Ohio, for the first time in history, makeup of the House of Representatives this year is evenly divided between men and women.
In sports, the popularity of the Women’s National Basketball Association has skyrocketed. Viewership of regular-season games on ESPN, for example, catapulted from 305,000 in 2021 to 1.4 million in 2024.
Yet in spite of those and many other accomplishments and advances in every arena of American life, lingering and oftentimes demeaning stereotypes and antiquated social mores continue to marginalize women’s rightful and paramount place in history.
Thus as our nation this week begins its observance of Women’s History Month, it’s time to cast aside the stereotypes, recognize the pivotal role of women in our nation’s past and commit to tearing down more walls that stunt the full potential of women in enriching our community and our country in the future.
The birth of March as Women’s History Month took place in 1987 after the national Women’s History Project had lobbied the federal government for seven years, arguing in part that the observance was needed because less than 5% of content in standard American history textbooks then focused on women. Clearly women’s contributions to our heritage merit more than a 5% crumb of the American pie.
In the ensuing decades, women have received more ink in those textbooks, but, as in many other spheres, they continue to fight to play catch-up.
As researchers Annie Chiponda and Johan Wassermann concluded in their study in the journal Yesterday and Today, “Women continue to be portrayed as historically unimportant and incapable, contributing little to society outside of the domestic [household] sphere.”
This month’s observance serves as a concrete foundation on which to debunk such myths. As former President Joe Biden pointed out last year in his proclamation for Women’s History Month 2024: “Throughout history, the vision and achievements of powerful women have strengthened our nation and opened the doors of opportunity wider for all of us. Though their stories too often go untold, all of us stand on the shoulders of these sung and unsung trailblazers — from the women who took a stand as suffragists, abolitionists and labor leaders to pioneering scientists and engineers, groundbreaking artists, proud public servants and brave members of our armed forces.”
One need not look far from our own backyard to find real-life stories that illustrate the former president’s eloquent prose. In the Mahoning Valley, consider Catherine Dougherty Hillman, who in the late 18th century helped to build the first log cabin, the first frame house and the first tavern in downtown Youngstown.
Consider the pioneer spirit of Margaret Van Horn Dwight, great-grandmother of Sir Winston Churchill, who braved the relentless elements in traveling from Connecticut to Warren, Ohio, in the early 1800s to help establish the capital of the Western Reserve.
Consider the soaring feat of Youngstowner Mary Ann Campana, who on June 4, 1933, set the world’s light airplane endurance record of 12 hours, 27 minutes flying over Youngstown.
Or consider the legacy of Harriet Taylor Upton of Warren, one of the most prominent fighters for women’s right to vote. She worked alongside Susan B. Anthony from 1890 to the adoption of the 19th amendment providing female suffrage in 1920.
By exploring these and many other examples of women’s rich contributions to our culture, we can tear down stereotypes and banish archaic thinking to better understand the critical role women have played in our history and the increasingly dominant role they are playing in making our history.
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