Important Dates in Women's History
by Susan G. Butruille

• March 1, 2008 Matronalia, Roman celebration of women and celebration of Juno-Lucina, protector of women and the family. Temple fires welcomed the coming of spring.

• March 1, 1864 Rebecca Lee of Boston, MA became the first African American woman to earn a medical degree.

• March 2 Roman festival of Vesta, Goddess of purifying fire. Vestal virgins were independent women who were priestesses of Vesta. The ancient meaning of “virgin” was “one within,” signifying an independent woman.

• March 3 Hina Matsuri, Japanese Doll Festival, dedicated to the three Munakata goddesses, daughters of Amaterasu, the Sun.

• March 4 Mothering Day (England), the original Mother’s Day. It was the custom to visit one’s mother on this day and present her with bread and presents.

• March 4, 1917 Peace activist and suffragist Jeanette Rankin became the first woman elected to the US House of Representatives.

• March 7, 1870 Wyoming women allowed on juries; the right later was taken away until the 1950s, when women once again were admitted to serve.

• March 8, 1908 First International Women's Day, founded by German labor activist Clara Zetkin.

• March 10 Hypatia’s Day, honoring the scholar of the University of Alexandria. A pagan, Hypatia was murdered by a mob of monks because she was a woman who taught men.

• March 10, 1913 Death of Harriet Tubman, Underground Railroad conductor who rescued more than 300 of her people from slavery.

• March 12, 1993 Janet Reno became the first woman US Attorney General.

• March 16 Palm Sunday.

• March 23 Easter, resurrection of Jesus celebrated. The name Easter comes from Oestre, the early Anglo-Saxon name for the Goddess of Spring.

• March 20, 1925 Birth of Romana Banuelos, first Mexican American woman to serve as US Treasurer.

• March 20 Spring Equinox. Spring festivals celebrate the ancient Greek story of the reunion of Kore, daughter of the Earth, and her mother, Demeter, assuring the return of spring.

• March 17.

• March 25, 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City. Nearly 146 workers died, mostly immigrant women. Many were trapped because of locked exits.

• March 30 Feast of Eostra, German Goddess of rebirth and fertility. This festival inspired the Christian Easter.

• March 31, 1776 Abigail Adams wrote her famous "Remember the ladies" letter to her husband, John, urging him to include women as he helped construct the US Constitution. He didn't.