For Women’s History Month, Let’s Celebrate Women’s Contributions to Labor (With Some Books!)

March is Women’s History Month, a time to highlight and honor women’s contributions to history, culture and society . This year’s theme is “Women Who Tell Stories,” which recognizes “women, past and present, who have been active in all forms of media and storytelling including print, radio, TV, stage, screen, blogs, podcasts, news, and social media.”

As library employees, we have a special role in preserving and sharing women’s stories and achievements. One of these stories is the history of women in labor, which is often missing from textbooks and the media.

Women have always been key to the labor movement, from organizing strikes and unions, to rallying for better working conditions and wages, to documenting and inspiring workers’ struggles for justice. For Women’s History Month, Council 2 compiled a list [PDF] of recommended reading to help expand our appreciation for the under-valued roles women have played in history.

Below is a list of recommended reading from Council 2 highlighting the role of women in history, with links to the KCLS catalog:

The following books are ones that KCLS does not own, but you can request through Interlibrary Loan (Hi! 👋That’s the department where I work! We welcome your requests!):

  • Song of the Stubborn One Thousand: The Watsonville Canning Strike, 1985-87 (2016) by Peter Shapiro
  • Jailed for Freedom: American Women Win the Vote (1995) by Doris Stevens
  • Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, Work, and the Family, from Slavery to the Present (2009) by Jacqueline Jones

Happy Women’s History Month!