In honor of Women’s History Month

By Laurie Stuart
Posted 3/3/23

Celebrating Women’s History Month

By LAURIE STUART

With an aim of increasing awareness of women’s contributions to society, educators in Santa Rosa, CA, first celebrated …

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In honor of Women’s History Month

Posted

Celebrating Women’s History Month

By LAURIE STUART

With an aim of increasing awareness of women’s contributions to society, educators in Santa Rosa, CA, first celebrated Women’s History Week in March 1978.

They chose a week in early March to correspond with International Women’s Day on March 8.

Over the next several years, other cities across the country joined Santa Rosa in celebrating Women’s History Week.

In 1980, U.S. president Jimmy Carter declared the week of March 8 National Women’s History Week, urging everyone in the United States to participate. According to Carter, “too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.”

The week-long event officially became a month-long one in 1987, when Congress passed a resolution designating March as Women’s History Month.

In the spirit of increasing awareness of women’s contributions to society, we’re featuring images from the Woman Card Girl Power playing cards throughout the month. This collection of cards, drawn by Zeb Wahl, showcases and celebrates young women who have changed the world.

Girl power

By ZEB and ZACH WAHL

Zeb and Zach Wahl are a brother-and-sister duo who have been producing feminist playing cards for the last eight years. The decks feature 15 original, hand-drawn portraits of women who changed the world. Zach also serves as the minority leader in the Iowa State Senate. Visit thewomancards.com for more information. If you wish to purchase any cards, you can use the code DEALMEIN23 for 10 percent off.

Ace: Malala Yousafzai—When we first reached out to our past supporters about who we should include in our next deck, there was no person more nominated than Malala Yousafzai. Her courageous and inspirational work in support of female literacy led her to become the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. The word “ace” denotes “one” or “single,” which is why there is only one spot on the card, which we believe is perfect for Malala. King: Joan of Arc—Divinely-inspired visions guided Joan of Arc, the illiterate daughter of a farmer, to meet with King Charles VII of France when she was only 17 years old. Despite initial (and understandable!) hesitation, the king dispatched her to the siege of Orléans, attaching her as a leader to his army.
The English had maintained the siege for six months—and it was broken only nine days after Joan arrived.
She went on to lead and inspire French forces, growing ever larger in life and in legend, before her capture by the English a few years later.
Queen: Mary Shelley—You’ve probably heard of Mary Shelley, who started writing “Frankenstein” when she was only 18 years old, and published it when she was 20. Her most famous book stands today as one of the most powerful stories about science, progress and human nature. She would go on to be described as the Queen of Horror, and we are excited to feature her as the Queen of our deck.

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