AIM is offering snippets of information about noteworthy events, recognitions and/or holidays during the current or upcoming month. Since some of March highlights occur early in the month, we are putting this article out in February.

March brings Women’s History Month, International Women’s Day, Daylight Savings Time, Evacuation Day (St. Patrick’s Day) and Employee Appreciation Day.

Women’s History Month

Women’s History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by women. It is a time to recognize their often-overlooked contributions to U.S. history.

The effort to recognize March as Women’s History Month began in the late 1970s in Santa Rosa, California according to womenshistory.org. By 1980 women’s groups and historians successfully lobbied President Carter to issue a proclamation declaring the Week of March 8, 1980 as National Women’s History Week.

President Reagan continued the tradition until the Congress passed a law in 1987 declaring March Women’s History Month. Since 1995, presidents have issued an annual proclamation designating March as Women’s History Month.

Employers active in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives or companies thinking about adopting and/or initiating DEI efforts will find a wealth of programs and strategies on the web to celebrate Women’s History Month.

International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8.

The day was first recognized in 1909. Though it originated in the United States, from 1909 until 1975 International Women’s Day was primarily celebrated by left-wing political parties or communist/socialist governments.

The United Nations recognized International Women’s Day in 1975 and began calling for it to be celebrated worldwide. It is now recognized in more than 100 countries.

President Biden issued a proclamation in 2021 celebrating both Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day.

Daylight Saving Time

States like Massachusetts that observe daylight saving time will “spring forward” by moving the clocks ahead one hour at 2 o’clock in the morning on Sunday, March 13.

The practice of shifting the clock one hour is fraught with historical battles.

Lawmakers in various states and at the federal level have proposed eliminating clock changes, but no final action has been taken. For now, everyone in the Commonwealth must remember to reset their clocks on March 13 or risk being late for everything.

Evacuation Day

Perhaps better known as St. Patrick’s Day, this holiday is celebrated only in Suffolk County (Boston, Winthrop, Revere, Chelsea) and by the public schools in Somerville, Massachusetts. The day commemorates the evacuation of British forces from the Dorchester Heights in South Boston following its siege early in the American Revolutionary War.

In recognition of the day, Suffolk County schools and government offices are closed. If March 17 falls on a weekend, schools and government offices are closed on the following Monday in observance.

The timing of Evacuation Day on March 17 conveniently coincides with St. Patrick’s Day, a day of festivity in Boston to honor the city’s strong Irish American heritage.  St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in countries throughout the world with parades and other activities. St. Patrick is recognized for his work as a missionary in bringing Christianity to Ireland in the 5^th century. March 17 is believed to be the day the saint died in 461 A.D.

National Employee Appreciation Day

The day is observed on the first Friday in March each year. The intent is to focus attention on employees in all industries.

The effort to recognize employees was first promoted back in 1995 by Dr. Bob Nelson. Dr. Nelson is a nationally known author in the field of employee recognition and engagement, and the author of the book 1501 Ways to Reward Employees.  If your workforce is needs a boost as we begin to emerge from the pandemic, you might wish to observe National Employee Appreciation Day, which falls on March 4, to applaud their hard work.

See you in April.