The National Women’s History Project is a non‐profit organization, founded in 1980. It is committed to providing education, promotional materials, and information services to recognize and celebrate women’s diverse lives and contributions to society.
Some of its achievements and activities include:
initiating the organizing effort for National Women’s History Month;
coordinating the Women’s History Network;
conducting teacher‐training workshops across the country;
consulting with publishers to increase the visibility of women in school books;
maintaining a research library with extensive resources on US women’s history.
The home page is neither flashy nor graphics‐intensive. It presents a menu from which to reach all of the major secondary pages within the site. Also the home page displays important information of current interest, such as how to nominate women for commemoration on a US postage stamp or how to make a donation to the National Women’s History Project. There is also an online catalogue (and secure server) from which one can order materials about women’s history.
The following paragraphs describe some of the major subsections of the site.
The “Ideas to Use” subsection presents ideas that community organizations, teachers, librarians, parents, or companies could use to celebrate the role of women in US history. For example, community organizations are encouraged to establish a “Women’s Hall of Fame” to honour women who have made contributions in the community.
In 1987, the National Women’s History Project petitioned the United States Congress to declare March to be National Women’s History Month. The subsection devoted to that celebration presents both a proclamation of National Women’s History Month from President Clinton and a Congressional Resolution declaring National Women’s History Month.
The Women’s History Network is co‐ordinated by the National Women’s History Project.
This subsection provides an overview of and instructions on how to join the network. It also describes the benefits of membership.
Finally, the “Our Favorite Links” subsection presents links to good quality “women’s history” sites elsewhere on the Internet. They are categorized by subject, such as: the Women’s Rights Movement; State‐specific Resources; African‐American Women; Art and Music; Athletics; Aviation; Sites for In‐Depth Research, etc.
In general, the tone of the site is upbeat, positive, and inspiring. As reflected in the “Ideas to Use” subsection, it is meant to appeal to people of all ages, in various walks of life. The design of the site is simple and utilitarian. Apart from the home page which is lengthy and requires scrolling, good navigation is presented to move around the site. This site is a good jumping‐off point for the study and celebration of women’s history.
