What to Watch | Women's History Month

Published on March 01, 2022 | Last updated on May 31, 2024 by PBS


Celebrate Women's History Month by exploring pivotal points in history and learning more about women who made history and those continuing to do so. This March, we salute women who have changed lives with documentaries about and by women, their achievements, their artistry, and their struggles.



Why is Women's History Month in March?

Women's History Month began as National Women's History Week, a local celebration in Santa Rosa, California. Organizers chose to start on March 8: International Women’s Day. A consortium of women's groups then petitioned Congress and the White House in support of a national Women's History Week. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter designated the first National Women's History Week by Presidential Proclamation. Again, the week of March 8 - 12, 1980 was chosen to coincide with International Women's Day on March 8. The following year Congress authorized Women's History Week to begin the week of March 7. Congress continued to pass resolutions designating Women's History Week for five more years, until 1987, when they established all of March would be celebrated as Women's History Month.



Sentir el Son


From VOCES: Sentir el Son is a poetic documentary short about an Afro-Mexican woman in search of her ethnic and gender identity through the West African and Afro-Mexican practices in music and dance. This is a heroine's journey about the struggle of ethnic invisibility and the hidden African Diaspora in Mexico.


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Spotlight on Women Who Made Music History


Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt has changed lives. It's a fact, it's not up for debate. When she released her mariachi album "Canciones de Mi Padre" in 1987, Ronstadt had already dominated the rock scene, the country scene, and the all the good-music-worth-listening-to scene. She demonstrated how someone could show all the different parts of themselves with pride when she put her Mexican heritage on display and recorded the Spanish-language mariachi album. If she was ever considered a mere pop singer, her ear for good songs in across rock, pop, country, and folk dispelled that notion. Her ability to move in and out of genres, to work with the best artists in the business, to pour lyrics directly into our hearts when she sang, and to insist on making music that represented all of her culture is why we love her. Oh, and that album of traditional Mexican songs, "Canciones de Mi Padre," went double platinum, selling over 2.5 million copies and won a Grammy Award. It remains the top selling non-English language album in U.S. history. We love Linda Ronstadt.

And for those of us of a certain age, we remember watching the Great Performances special she recorded for "Canciones de Mi Padre." We couldn't all go see her perform live in full mariachi charro dress but PBS brought the stunning show to us and our little Chicana hearts just exploded with love and pride. The love she gave with that album lives on.

In this 2020 tribute concert from Southland Sessions, Ronstadt's hits are sung by artists she influenced, including La Marisoul and Aida Cuevas.



8 Short Films About History-Making Women

Watch these eight short films about incredible women who made remarkable changes in their fields and communities. Stream these and more from American Masters.


Crystal Labeija: The Queen Who Reinvented Ball Culture
A proud Black trans woman, a drag mother and, a pageant girl, Crystal LaBeija was the cause of an iconic moment in drag history that paved the way for house culture, voguing, Paris is Burning, and the TV series Pose.
Full Length 5m 38s
Crystal Labeija: The Queen Who Reinvented Ball Culture
Full Length
Crystal Labeija: The Queen Who Reinvented Ball Culture
5m 38s
A proud Black trans woman, a drag mother and, a pageant girl, Crystal LaBeija was the cause of an iconic moment in drag hi
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The First Black Woman to Run for Vice President of The U.S.
Full Length
The First Black Woman to Run for Vice President of The U.S.
12m 32s
Charlotta Spears Bass (1874-1969) one of the first African American women to own and operate a newspaper, and the first Af
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Queen Lili‘uokalani - The First and Last Queen of Hawai‘i
Full Length
Queen Lili‘uokalani - The First and Last Queen of Hawai‘i
12m 14s
Queen Lili‘uokalani (1838-1917) was the first sovereign queen, and the last monarch of Hawai‘i, who assumed the throne in
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The First American Indian Doctor
Full Length
The First American Indian Doctor
11m 37s
Susan La Flesche Picotte became the first American Indian woman to graduate from medical school, and is notable for foundi
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She was a leader of the American labor movement
Full Length
She was a leader of the American labor movement
10m 59s
Rose Schneiderman began working in a factory at age 16, and after experiencing unsafe work conditions and unequal pay firs
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The First American-Born Chinese Woman Doctor
Full Length
The First American-Born Chinese Woman Doctor
10m 18s
Margaret Chung (1889-1959) overcame great racism and sexism to become the first American-born Chinese female doctor in 191
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She was an American Cinema Pioneer
Full Length
She was an American Cinema Pioneer
12m 12s
Lois Weber was an early film pioneer as the first American woman to direct a full-length feature film in 1913, and one of
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This Astronomer Discovered Over 300 Stars During Her Career
Full Length
This Astronomer Discovered Over 300 Stars During Her Career
9m 34s
Williamina Fleming went from doing domestic work to being appointed the Curator of Astronomical Photographs at the Harvard
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Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom

Go beyond the legend and meet the inspiring woman who repeatedly risked her own life and freedom to liberate others from slavery. Born 200 years ago in Maryland, Harriet Tubman was a conductor of the Underground Railroad, a Civil War scout, nurse and spy, and one of the greatest freedom fighters in our nation’s history.

Watch the full documentary with Passport