Palm Beach County, as well as all the United States, celebrates women’s role in history each year during the month of March. The 2022 Women’s History theme, “Providing Healing, Promoting Hope,” is both a tribute to the ceaseless work of caregivers and frontline workers during this ongoing pandemic and a recognition of the thousands of ways that women of all cultures have provided both healing and hope throughout history.

The National Women’s History Project was started in California in 1980 by a small group of women. They led the coalition that successfully lobbied Congress to designate March as National Women’s History Month. It is now celebrated across the United States. Since, the beginning, the project has established the theme for women’s history each year and provided resources and materials for education and celebration of the women honored.

Women’s History Month is a celebration of women’s contributions to history, culture, and society. The Palm Beach County Historical Society is presenting an exhibit honoring women entitled Breaking Barriers: Portraits of Persistence. Impactful women of Palm Beach County are featured in this outdoor exhibit, in front of the 1916 Courthouse, downtown West Palm Beach, throughout March and April.  

Some of the wonderful women recognized in the exhibit are:

Eva Mack, former West Palm Beach Mayor

Agnes Ballard, Architect

Bessie Fenn, Professional Golfer

Nellie O’Hara, League of Women Voters Founder

Ruby Edna Pierce, Journalist

Lillie Pierce Voss, Pioneer

Dr. Alice R. Evans Miller, Physician

Marjorie Merriweather Post, Former Owner of Mar-a-Lago