Presidential Library tells about March 8 celebration in our country in different years

The tradition of celebrating International Women's Day has long roots. At different times, the holiday, which has been celebrated in our country for 105 years, was called differently. For the first time in the RSFSR, March 8 was celebrated as an official holiday in 1919. In the early years of Soviet power, it was called “International Working Women’s Day”, and in the 1920s it became known as International Women’s Day.

The idea of celebrating International Women's Day was voiced in 1910.

Of course, women were not given any flowers or perfume on March 8. The holiday itself was an ordinary working day. But the most worthy workers were always awarded certificates, and newspapers published poems and articles about their labor successes.

The festive issue of Murzilka published a poem that begins with the words: “My mother is a good driver”. The topic of women mastering “male professions” in the coal industry, construction, chemical plants and transport is becoming increasingly relevant, for example, the newspaper Vostochno-Sibirskaya Pravda writes about this on March 8, 1931.

The Great Patriotic War equalized women with men and the responsibility to defend the Motherland. Many girls and women went to the front. Even more remained to work in the rear for the needs of the Red Army and victory over the enemy. Overtime shifts at industrial enterprises and in hospitals, sowing and harvesting work in the fields, hard work at defense factories - all this fell on fragile women's shoulders with the beginning of the war.

“Women occupy an honorable place in the ranks of active fighters for the liberation of Soviet land from fascist evil spirits,” writes the newspaper Proletarskaya Pravda on March 7, 1943 and names the brave daughters of the country who are at the front and in the rear, shoulder to shoulder with men selflessly defend the freedom and independence of their homeland: military paramedic Maria Lesovaya, who carried 21 wounded soldiers with weapons from the battlefield in one day, sniper Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko, who destroyed over 300 enemies in the battle for Sevastopol, commander of the night bomber aviation regiment Evdokia Bershanskaya, nurse Nadezhda Senkina, communications operator Olga Pinchuk, driller Anna Rychkova, tractor driver Daria Garmash...

In the post-war years, women as mothers began to be given increasing importance. It is in her that the main strength of the fair sex is now seen. “May the sacred fire of maternal love rise throughout the world against war, inspire the hearts of all people to fight for peace and friendship, for the bright future of our children, for the triumph of reason and justice!” – writes Belgorodskaya Pravda on March 8, 1960.

Gradually the holiday becomes more family-friendly. Children are explained that March 8th is “Mother’s Day”. This is reflected in the themes of postcards, which have become customary to send to loved ones and give as gifts to families. There are many such postcards in the collections of the Presidential Library. They most often depict children with bouquets of mimosa or tulips.

In 1965, in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, International Women's Day March 8 was declared a non-working day. In 1975, when the International Women's Year was celebrated, the United Nations, at the proposal of the USSR delegation, proclaimed March 8 as International Women's Day.

After the collapse of the USSR, the holiday gradually lost its political overtones and became increasingly associated with spring and femininity. And no matter what the day of March 8 is called, which has been officially celebrated in our country for 105 years, today for all of us it is a bright spring holiday, accompanied by smiles, congratulations, and flowers. And how to call the heroes of the occasion: “dear ladies”, “dear women” or “fighting friends” - everyone can decide for themselves by learning about rare publications from the Presidential Library’s collection, which numbers more than a million depository items and tells, among other things, about the history of the celebration March 8.