Letter relating to the International Women's Day Joint Committee

Letter relating to the International Women's Day Joint Committee, 1938.

International Women's Day is an annual event which recognises the fact that women have an equal human right to peace, freedom and social progress. The idea developed from a desire to commemorate the struggle for equal rights which was, and still is, such an important part of everyday life for many women. On 28th February 1909 the first National Women's Day was held in the United States by supporters of the Socialist Party of America. It was testimony to past attempts to reform the economic, legal, social and political rights of women and particularly the groundbreaking marches held in New York on 8th March 1857 and 1908. In 1910, the Women's Socialist International meeting in Copenhagen voted unanimously to adopt Women's Day as an international event. No fixed date was selected but it was usually held on the last Sunday of February in the east and on the 8th March in western Europe and North America. In 1975, the General Assembly of the United Nations formally recognised International Women's Day and member states began to celebrate it on 8th March. This was slightly altered in 1977 by a UN resolution which allowed members to choose an appropriate date to observe this event according to their own calendars and historical events.

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Description by Helen Briscoe. Submitted to the Archives Hub as part of Genesis 2009 Project. (November 2000, amended June 2002 )

Special Collections is a large body of historical and archival material which was collected by the South Wales Miners' Library. The collections were transferred to the archives of the University of Wales in May 1990 where they are currently located.

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