LA Events for Women's History Month 2014

March is designated as Women's History Month! While I'm all for celebrating the accomplishments and rich history of women all year round, I'm very happy that we have a month designated to focus on the theme of women.  Here's a selection of events from our calendar that celebrate not only women's history, but also women's stories, accomplishments, and art.

Cherish the Ladies
Friday, March 7, 2014 at 8PM
Beckman Auditorium at Caltech
Initially winning recognition as the first and only all-women traditional Irish band, this talented group has been lauded for their musical virtuosity and engaging performances.

True Values: One Girl's Romp Through M.I.T.'s Math Maze
Wednesday, March 12, 2014 at 7PM
Grand Ballroom - Ronald Tutor Campus Center, USC
In 2005, Lawrence Summers, then-president of Harvard University, suggested that women are less represented than men in the sciences because of innate gender differences. Truth Values is writer/performer and recovering mathematician Gioia De Cari's response to this suggestion.  She brings to life more than 30 characters in a true tale that offers a humorous, scathing, insightful and ultimately uplifting look at the challenges of being a professional woman in a male-dominated field.

Tea and Morphine: Women in Paris 1880 to 1914
Exhibition: Now through May 18, 2014
Hammer Museum
The exhibition Tea and Morphine: Women in Paris 1880 to 1914 features 100 works of art that reflect the how women - and men - lived during this time.  The exhibition runs now until May 18, 2014 and includes related events such as a curatorial walk-through of the exhibition (March 16th) by Victoria Dailey, independent curator, and Cynthia Burlingham, deputy director, curatorial affairs at the Hammer Museum; a screening of La Danse (March 18th) featuring seven ballets by the Paris Opera Ballet; and Hammer Lecture: Morphine, Sex, and Freedom at the Fin-De-Siecle (March 25th), which is exploration of histories of consumerism, feminism, and medicine by author and professor Susan Zieger who examines women’s struggles against discrimination and drug addiction at the fin-de-siècle.

Women's History Month
at the California African American Museum
CAAM offers The Artists Speak Colorful Conversations with visual artist June Edmonds (March 16th) who will discuss her life experiences, influences and her current work.  Later in the month, CAAM presents an in-depth discussion with natural hair experts and stylists about the historical framework that has shaped attitudes around hair in the African American community entitled Napology: The Psychology of Black Hair (March 23rd).

She Had a Dream
Saturday, March 22, 2014 at 2:00PM
Allendale Library
This a program examines the history and legacy of the women's liberation movement with Ellen Snortland, Pasadena Weekly columnist and Huffington Post blogger, co-hosting a screening of the award-winning documentary, "Feminist: Stories from Women's Liberation," covering the seminal years of 1963-1970, by filmmaker Jennifer Lee.  Ms. Snortland, Ms. Lee, and special guest Lois Banner, feminist scholar, Professor of History and Gender Studies at USC, and author of "Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox," an acclaimed biography of Marilyn Monroe, will discuss the impact of a revolution that forever changed American society.

Half the Sky: Hear Our Voices
Saturday, March 22, 2014 at 8PM
Zipper Concert Hall, Colburn School
This concert by Vox Femina is the second half of their Half the Sky cycle, inspired by Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's powerful and catalyzing book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.  They will be singing songs that celebrate the courage and strength of women all across the globe.  Vox Femina is also offering free concerts featuring selections of their songs from Half the Sky at Culver City Community Concert (March 16th) and United University Church Community Concert (March 25).


 -Charity Tran, ExperienceLA.com Editor