It's March and we're celebrating Women's History Month! In 1980, President Jimmy Carter declared the second week in March to be National Women's History week and in 1987 Congress passed a resolution naming the month of March as Women's History Month! Like Black History Month in February, JSTOR Daily is again publishing more fascinating stories regarding the contributions of women around the world and throughout history and we will share with you some of the stories from this series.
Regular contributor to JSTOR, Livia Gershon, writes about the dangers of being a female librarian. In her story, Being a Victorian Librarian Was Oh-So-Dangerous. Due to gender imbalance in the 1860s many women chose to become librarians. According to Gerson, becoming a librarian seemed to be an obvious choice. "Library administrators were enthusiastic about the cheap, educated workforce they could find among graduates of women's colleges, and it was a ladylike form of paid employment involving little physical strain. Yet, to many Victorians, it still seemed to be too much for delicate women." Gershon goes on to say: "Some social historians believe Victorian women reacted physically to their narrowly defined social roles in ways that manifested as physical and emotional breakdowns." Click here to read the story in its entirety.
JSTOR Daily, throughout the month of March, will continue to add stories. Check back here to read more about these exceptional women.