About Us

HOW IT ALL BEGAN…

In the fall of 1986, Congress acted with full bipartisan support to proclaim the month of March as Women's History Month. A Yolo County Women's History Month planning committee was already in place and ready for action. The Yolo County Arts Council sponsored a quilt show on all three floors of the county administration building, complete with opening and closing receptions. Each Tuesday in March of 1987, activities were conducted to promote knowledge of women's history — a readers' theatre, a women's choral group, a docent-led tour of the quilt show and quilt demonstrations.

Former Yolo County Supervisor Helen Thomson organized the very first Yolo County Women's History Month luncheon, held in April 1987 at the Carousel Restaurant in Woodland, a gathering to celebrate all the work and success of the planning committee. About forty people attended, including then-Davis Board of Education Trustee Janice Bridge and then-Yolo County Supervisor Betsy Marchand. It was decided at the luncheon that the experience should be repeated in March 1988. The Women's History Month luncheon is the last vestige of the original planning process and has grown marvelously due to the dedication of many community volunteers including BJ Ford, who was the Yolo County Women's History Month Planning Committee Chairwoman from 1995-2009, and Carol Barnett, who joined as a volunteer in 1997 and has served as Treasurer since 2002.