In 1978 the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women planned a "Women's History Week" celebration for the week of March 8 to correspond with International Women's Day. The movement spread across the country.
Two years later, the National Women's History Project (now the National Women's History Alliance) successfully lobbied for national recognition. In February 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring the Week of March 8, 1980, as National Women's History Week.
"From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. 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 American was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well."
- President Jimmy Carter's message designating March 2-8, 1980, as National Women's History Week.
National Women's History Week continued until 1987, when Congress passed Public Law 100-9, designating March as "Women's History Month."