Culture of CARE & Women’s History Month

Culture of CARE & Women’s History Month – AGC of Washington is looking forward to a new year of supporting Culture of CARE programs for the construction industry. 2023 is a chance to continue our commitment to providing diversity & inclusion resources. Each month, you can expect cultural observance month digests to help you celebrate the diversity that is making your company stronger and healthier.

March is Women’s History Month: Beginning in New York City on March 8, 1857 during one of the first strikes by working women and later was petitioned to make the entire month of March recognized as Women’s History Month in 1987. Women’s History Month is an opportunity to reflect on the economic, political, and social contributions of women in the construction industry, and to highlight the skill of women and women-owned businesses contribution to construction projects across the nation. Notable dates during Women’s History Month include International Women’s Day occurring on Wednesday, March 8 and Women in Construction Week occurring March 5 – 11.

Ideas for Celebrating Women’s History Month in the Construction Workplace

On-the-Job Resources

Community Events for Women in Construction Week:

Notable Women History in Construction

1843 – 1903: Emily Roebling is well-known for her contributions to the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge, acting as a supervisor on the jobsite when her husband fell ill.

1898: First women architect, Ethel Charles, to gain professional recognition in architecture when she was admitted to the Royal Institute of British Architecture

1935: Margaret Ellings was the first woman to join the United Brotherhood of Carpenters

1953: Women in Construction of Fort Worth is founded by local women

1954: Norma Sklarek became first registered black female architect in New York and continued to break many barriers throughout her career, later becoming the only black women elected to the American Institute of Architecture and first black women to co-own an architectural practice with two other women.

1955: Fort Worth Association becomes National Association of Women in Construction

1991: National Association of Black Women in Construction formed to address unique challenges of black women in construction

1998: National Association of Women in Construction founds Women in Construction Week to strengthen and acknowledge the women in the industry

2007: Dianna Montague, “Iron Lady” Montague, was the first African-American woman in the nearly 100 year history of the Philadelphia Iron Workers Local 405 to become a member, and the first woman to complete the Union’s apprenticeship program and becoming an ironworker, a certified master in welding, rigging and rod setting.

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