Molly Murphy MacGregor was taken aback by a teaching colleague's comment in 1972 that a semester-long women's history class that MacGregor was proposing to teach should take about an hour, "because what have women ever done, anyway?" The 40 high school students in her fully enrolled classes the next year left with a very different perspective.   Read her bio

Q: Why did you decide you wanted to have a woman's history month?
Brittany, grade 4, Long Island

Molly Murphy Macgregor: I was teaching women's history at the local community college. Women in my class did a project to see what their children were learning about women's history. In their research they discovered that there were very few books about women in the school libraries and that even those few books were rarely checked out. I thought if we established a special time to honor and recognize women, teachers would begin to teach about women and ask students to do reports on women. All this began over 21 years ago. We started with a week and expanded to a month. Our goal is to have women's history included in the classroom throughout the entire school year.

Q: Was it hard to organize the NWHM (National Womans History Month)?
Brittany, grade 4, Long Island

Molly Murphy Macgregor: Getting the United States Senate and the House of Representatives to pass a Congressional Resolution is not easy, but there were many people and organizations who helped make it happen. The success of National Women's History Month has made it all worthwhile.

Q: Do you have info on Hillary Clinton?
Chris, grade 5, New York City

Molly Murphy Macgregor: We have lots of information about Hillary Clinton. Biographical information "about her is in almost any current women's history biographical dictionary, plus there are hundreds of articles and dozens of books written about her. If you type her name into word search, you'll find many references to "articles and to websites that feature information about her.

Q: Who is Sybil Ludington?
Vinny, grade 4, Long Island

Molly Murphy Macgregor: Sybil Ludington was a revolutionary war hero very much like Paul Revere. She was only 16 years old when she rode through the night to warn of the British attack. She was extraordinarily brave because she didn't know if she would meet friendly or hostile people as she rode through the darkness.

Q: Where can i find a picture of Rosa Parks?
Anonymous, grade 5, New York City

Molly Murphy Macgregor: There are many pictures of Rosa Parks in books written about her. There is a small picture of her on the National Women's Hall of Fame website. The address is www.greatwomen.org. Once you are at their home page, click on Women of the Hall and then on P for Parks. You'll see a picture of Rosa Parks with a biography.

Q: Who is Sacagawea?
Ryan, grade 6, New York City

Molly Murphy Macgregor: Sacagawea was the Native American woman who helped guide the Lewis and Clark expedition. She was a young mother who had her new infant with her. The fact that a baby was with the expedition encouraged the American Indian tribes to be more welcoming, realizing that this expedition was probably more friendly than hostile. Her knowledge of several languages and her expertise with herbal medicines was essential for the success of the expedition.

Q: I'm looking for info on Clara Barton.
Erin, grade 5, New York City

Molly Murphy Macgregor: Clara Barton is one of the most famous women in American history. She founded the American Red Cross. During the Civil War she fearlessly entered the battlefield to tend to injured and dying men. She is in the National Women's Hall of Fame. The web address is www.greatwomen.org. Once you are at the home page, click on Women of the Hall and then on B for Barton.

Q: Who is Laura Ingalls Wilder?
Anonymous, grade 6, New York City

Molly Murphy Macgregor: Laura Ingalls Wilder was a writer. She wrote a whole series of books from which the television program Little House on the Prairie was adapted. Her books are readily available in most school libraries. More information about her can be found in almost any book that includes American women writers.

Q: Is is hard to be the president of the national woman's history month project?
Brittany, grade 4, Long Island

Molly Murphy Macgregor: Being President of the National Women's History Project is a great honor. I get to work with wonderful teachers throughout the country. There are times when things seem difficult, but that is true about all the important things we do in life. The change I see in the knowledge that young people have about women is definitely worth doing work that is sometimes hard.

Q: Were you thinking of making Woman's History month more noticable, for example, like a holiday?
Brittany, grade 4, Long Island

Molly Murphy Macgregor: We are always trying to make Women's History Month more noticeable because it is such a good way to remind people of the extraordinary accomplishments of women. National Women's History Month should have activities throughout the month that are celebrations and fun-filled, just like a holiday.

MOLLY MURPHY MACGREGOR BIOGRAPHY
MacGregor enrolled in the graduate program in history at Sonoma State University in 1974. As part of her graduate education, MacGregor helped produce a multimedia slide show presentation on the history of women in the US, entitled "We, the Women." Presenting the show to audiences throughout California, she introduced thousands of people to the history of women's contributions in the United States. The enthusiasm and interest demonstrated by audience after audience validated what she had seen in her own classroom. The knowledge of women's history inspired the women and men in her audiences to see themselves as active participants in a democracy.

She originated the plan for the first Women's History Week in Sonoma County in 1978. The goal of the observance was to have communities and schools recognize the important contributions that women of all cultural backgrounds have made to society and history. In 1979 MacGregor as the director of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women's History Week to a Women's History Institute for national women's organizations' leaders. Her goal to get the institute participants to embrace the idea of Women's History Week was easily accomplished, and a mass lobbying effort began to get Congress and governors nationwide to declare National Women's History Week for the first time in 1981.

In 1980 MacGregor co-founded the National Women's History Project (NWHP), an educational nonprofit institution. The NWHP spearheaded the movement for National Women's History Week (which in 1987 became National Women's History Month).

As Executive Director of the National Women's History Project for the past 19 years, MacGregor has worked with leaders of national women's organizations to encourage them to celebrate their own organizations' history as well as to build coalitions to develop programs and events that celebrate the vast array of women's lives. She also works with curriculum and equity specialists in school districts throughout the country to train teachers in ways to integrate a multicultural women's history perspective into the school curriculum.

MacGregor has authored several curriculum units and co-developed several video productions to encourage the easy integration of multicultural women's history into all areas of the curriculum. As validation of the success of these materials, US Department of Education funded seven grants for the NWHP between 1981 and 1986, totaling $550,000.

Under MacGregor's leadership, the NWHP has been recognized by the National Education Association with its prestigious Mary Hatwood Futrell Award for outstanding contributions to women's and girls' education, the National Association for Multicultural Education, and the Center for Women Policy Studies for scholarship, service and advocacy on behalf of the "feminist enlightenment."

MacGregor has also been honored by the American Education Research Association with its Women Educator's Curriculum Award, the Giraffe Foundation for "sticking her neck out,'" the Sonoma County NAACP as a Woman of the Year, the California Commission on the Status of Women as one of California's 12 Outstanding Women of 1987, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey for contributions in shaping women's political and social landscape, California Business and Profession Women as an Outstanding California Leader and Sonoma State University as a Distinguished Alumna.

This year MacGregor was chosen as one of three appointments from the White House to the Women's Progress Commemoration Commission which will be responsible for advising the Secretary of Interior on ensuring the historic preservation of sites that have been instrumental in American women's history, creating a living legacy for generations to come.

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