March is the month of awakenings and rebirth in the natural world. In many ways it is the “true beginning” of the new year, here in New England and the Northeast. The Full Sap or Worm Moon occurs on March 25th. The earth is thawing, animals that hibernate are waking up and getting active, birds are returning from their Fall migration, insects are hatching, the sap is running up and down the trees with the alternation between cold nights and warm days, and that perennial harbinger of Spring, the Skunk Cabbage, is beginning to sprout.
The holiday celebrations of Lent and Easter ( Christian) , Purim ( Jewish), Holi ( Hindu), and Ramadan ( Muslim) all occur during the month of March. Patty Smith Hill, principal of the Louisville Experimental Kindergarten, first president of the National Association of the Education of Young Children, who wrote “Happy Birthday,” and who believed in the “importance of self-determination in children’s activities,” was born March 27th, 1868. Fred Rogers, born 3/20/1928, liked to sing: “Let’s make the most of this beautiful day/ Since we’re together, might as well say/ Would you be my, could you be my, Won’t you be my neighbor?” Let’s use this month of March to make the most of each day.
Use the awakening of the earth and the coming of Spring to wake up and pay attention to all the comings and goings of the natural world. Aldo Leopold in reflecting on the great return of gaggles of Canada Geese in March, remarks that a certain “educated lady” he was talking to “had never heard or seen the geese that twice a year proclaim the revolving seasons to her well insulated roof.” And he wonders out loud, ” Is education possibly a process of trading in awareness for things of lesser worth?” Use Spring to “wake up,” along with the rest of the natural world, find ways to build more democratic, multicultural, and caring communities, and ultimately become better neighbors to each other. Let us hope that as teachers, parents, human beings we learn how to fine tune our awareness of the world in such a way as to be better able to attune ourselves to all of life’s possibilities. And in doing so, let’s help children find ways to engage with their communities, connect with the natural world, and live in better harmony with the earth and each other.
March
March 1st
President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act into law making it the first national park—not just in the U.S., but in the world, in 1872
Great Peace March for global nuclear disarmament, starts from Los Angeles in March 1986 and arrives in Washington DC on November 15th 1986
Five Indiana University students launched the Green Feather Movement in response to the head of the Indiana Text Book Commission banning Robin Hood in all schools because the stories promoted communism through the slogan “rob from the rich to give to the poor,” 1954
International Monetary Fund ostensibly established to “improve” the economies of its members, often caught supporting dictatorships and disregarding the natural environment in its ceaseless quest for monetary wealth, 1947
March 2nd
Theodor Geisel Dr. Seuss, b. 1904
King Kong, a milestone in cinema, featuring Willis O’Brien’s stop motion effects, premieres in New York City to rave reviews, in 1933
Mink get around in the snow in many ways including bounding over it, making tunnels under it, and sledding on it
March 3
Chief Joseph, or Heinmot Tooyalakekt (Thunder Rising to Loftier Mountain Heights), one of the great leaders of the Nez Perce, resisted US efforts to force the Nez Perce ( along with other Indians who lived in the Northwest and the Columbia River basin), and led them on 1,400 mile flight from the US military, b. 1840
Common Ravens are repairing and building huge nests, 2-3 feet across and 4 feet deep, on cliffs and in trees
World Wildlife Day
March 4th
Frances Perkins, instrumental in the passing the New Deal legislation, becomes the first woman to serve in the cabinet as the U.S. Secretary of Labor, in 1933
Crows gathering to find mates. “What a perfectly New England sound is the voice of the crow. If you stand perfectly still anywhere in the outskirts of town and listen–stilling the almost incessant hum of your own personal factory–this is perhaps the sound you will be most sure to hear.” Thoreau’s Animals, 1852
March 5th
Rosa Luxemburg, German-Marxist revolutionary leader, “If I can’t dance I don’t want to be part of your revolution”, b. 1871
Mem Fox, Australian children’s book author who works to dismantle stereotypes and revels in the beauty of language, b. 1946
Howard Pyle, well known children’s book author who illustrated both Robin Hood and His Merry Men, and King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table b.1853
Red Foxes take over woodchuck burrows and turn them into fox dens, by extending them and creating a large chamber for giving birth to baby foxes
March 6
Elizabeth Barrett Brown, poet, “How Do I love Thee” b. 1806
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Columbian, author, Nobel Prize in Literature, “ 100 Years Of Solitude”, b. 1927
Chris Raschka, Chris Raschka is a multi-award-winning author/illustrator of over 30 books for children including The Hello, Goodbye Window, Yo? Yes!, and Vera’s Chair b.1959
March 7th
To protest the police murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson and for voting rights, more than 600 people began a peaceful march from Selma to Montgomery, 1965
Townes Van Zandt, Texas poet, singer-songwriter of songs that that will rip your heart out and then give it back to you, drunken angel, b. 1944
Male Eastern Screech Owls are crouching, trilling, and providing food, while females are crouching, opening their wings, and preening, both to win the allegiance of a mate
March 8th
International Women’s Day ( https://kinvibes.com/famous-women-born-in-march/)
FBI suggests that Food Not Bombs has ties to terrorist organizations, 2006
Robert Sabuda, children’s book author and pop-up book master, http://www.robertsabuda.com/, b.1965
March 9th
Electron microscope invented
100,000 people march on Washington for freedom of choice and reproductive rights in 1986
The American toy company Mattel claims that more than one billion Barbie dolls have been sold so far, with about 3 dolls being sold every second. The first Barbie doll was sold in 1959
March 10th
Revolt in Lhasa where 100s of thousands of Tibetans encircle Dalai Lama’s palace to protect him from arrest by the Chinese military, thousands are killed, and the Dalai Lama ultimately flees Tibet, 1959
Chipmunks coming out of hibernation. “I am pretty sure that I heard the chuckle of a ground a squirrel ( Eastern Chipmunk) among the warm and bare rocks of the cliff.” Thoreau’s Animals, 1852
Ramadan, a month long Muslim holiday celebrated around the world that includes fasting, prayer, reflection, gathering in family and community, expressing gratitude for the creator Allah, and practicing forgiveness and piety
March 11th
World Health Organization declares Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic, 2020
The Oglala Sioux announced the creation of the Independent Oglala Nation (ION). The ION established a provisional government and reverted to the treaty of 1868 as its basis. Leaders stated that the ION would negotiate with the United States , nation-to-nation.
Peter Sis, Czeck born, US transplant children’s author and illustrator ( Madlenka, The Wall, Tibet, Ocean World, Tree of Life, among many others) with an absolutely unique style that engages children in an ongoing journey of the world and self-exploration, b. 1949
In early March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 threat to be great enough to warrant labeling it a pandemic, 2020
Lorainne Hansbury’s “Raisin in the Sun” opens, transforming American theatre in 1959
March 12th
Jack Kerouac, author “On the Road”, b. 1922
Virginia Hamilton, African American and Native American children’s literature author of fiction and non-fiction, fantasy, nature writing, biography and much more, b. 1936
10,000 people in Austin Texas protest education cuts, 2011
March 13th
Daylight savings time begins at 2 AM
First African American daily newspaper the Atlantic Daily World, starts publishing, 1933
Disability Rights Activists make “Capitol Crawl” for the American’s with Disabilities Act, in 1990
Mircea Eliade, historian of religious experiences and practices, who contributed to the modern study of spirituality and religious experience, b. 1907
Diane Dillon, along with Leo Dillon, created an extraordinary body of children’s literature that emphasizes both the universality of human experience and the ways in which different cultures and individuals express themselves in unique and wonderful ways, b. 1933
March 14th
Albert Einstein, inventor, discoverer of the theory of relativity, b. 1879
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the speech titled “The Other America,” focusing on economic inequalities and white complicity in the North, in 1968
Eli Whitney was given a patent for the Cotton Gin in 1794
International Day of Action for Rivers
March 15th
More than 1,300 Norwegian teachers were arrested by the German Nazi-installed government, in 1942
Redtail Hawks refurbish nests and lay 2-4 eggs that take 28-35 days to hatch
English composer Dick Higgins invented the term “intermedia” and founded Something Else Press, that supported the Fluxus Art Movement, b. 1938
Hundreds of students rally and strike at University of San Francisco demanding an ethnic studies requirement for all undergraduates. The strike ended when the administration agreed to an ethnic studies requirement March 20 in 1969 https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/03/21/704930088/the-student-strike-that-changed-higher-ed-forever
Sly Stone leader of Sly and the Family Stone, revolutionary soul, funk, rock musician, b. 1943
March 16
March Flies found in large swarms, after mating lay up to 300 eggs and die
March 17th
St. Patrick’s Day
Apartheid in South Africa ends in 1992
Patrick Mcdonnell, children’s author, cartoonist, animal rights advocate, b. 1956
Song Sparrows Start Singing
Wendell Minor, children’s book illustrator and writer whose “lifelong affinity for environmental issues [allowed him] to create illustrations for children’s books,” that inspire children to go out into nature and make deep connections with the natural world, b. 1944
March 18th
A 100 foot wave caused by a massive rock avalanche that crashed into Lake Yanahuani from a height of 1300 feet kills 100s of people in Peru, in 1971
Great Blue Herons start returning to their breeding grounds
Queen Latifah, rapper, actress, activist, dominant figure, in rap and contemporary music, bringing the noise and the U.N.I.T.Y, b. 1970
March 19th
Moms Mabley, first female comedian featured at the Apollo Theatre, one of the first comedians to come out as a lesbian in 1921 at the age of 27, and hell of funny, b. 1894
Eastern Comma Butterflies emerging
Howard University students seized the Administration Building, demand changes in the discipline policy, the addition of courses in African American history, and more, in 1968
Bob Dylan releases his first album Bob Dylan in 1962
Spring Equinox/1st Day of Spring
March 20th
Henrik Ibsen, “father” of modern realism in theatre, creator of A Doll’s House, Enemy of the People, The Wild Duck, and many other plays, b. 1828
Pussy Willow flowers maturing
Fred Rogers, creator of Mr Rogers Neighborhood, b. 1928
Mitsumasa Anno, prodigious Japanese children’s book author with a unique and compelling vision that combines art, math, science, storytelling, whimsy and detail, https://www.carolhurst.com/authors/manno.html, b. 1926
“The fishes are going up the brooks as they open. They are dispersing themselves through the fields and woods–importing new life with them.” Thoreau’s Animals 1858
American psychologist and behaviorist B.F. Skinner, with an undeserved but as of yet under explored influence on childrearing and education. Treated his own children badly, https://gizmodo.com/why-b-f-skinner-may-have-been-the-most-dangerous-psych-1548690441, b. 1904
March 21
World Forest Day
Nowruz, Zoroastrian/Persian New Year
Silver Maples, the first of the maples to bloom, flowering
David Wisniewski, clown, puppeteer, children’s book writer and illustrator who dealt with myth, Sundiata:Lion King of Mali, folklore, Golem, and lighthearted whimsy, The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups, b. 1953
March 22
Randolf Caldecott, children’s illustrator, changed book illustration with his Christmas “Toy Books,” and is the namesake for the Caldecott Medal for best illustrated children’s books each year, b.1846-1886
World Water Day
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Community on the Move for Equality called for a march in Memphis, Tennessee in solidarity with sanitation workers, 1968
March 23rd
Akira Kurosawa, Japanese movie director, screenwriter and producer whose credits include Yojimbo, Rashomon , High Low, and The Seven Samurai, b. 1910
Caddisfly larvae feeding in the ponds and streams
Purim, Jewish holiday, commemorates the saving of the Jewish people ( by Esther) from Haman who, after being offended because a Jewish man, Mordecai ,who didn’t bow down to him, arranged a plan to kill all the Jewish people in Persia.
Talking about his ‘infinite pains to understand all the phenomena of Spring,” and reflecting on the animals that have been exterminated or become extinct, Thoreau discovers that he was “thinking that here I have the entire poem–and then to my chagrin I hear that it is but an imperfect copy that I possess and have read, that my ancestors have torn out many of the first leaves and the grandest passages–and mutilated it in many places.” 1856
March 24th
Oil tanker Exxon Valdez runs aground in Alaska, 1989
Archbishop Oscar Romero, voice of the voiceless who were being killed by the death squads backed by the CIA, assassinated in El Salvador
Sanctuary Movement started in Arizona, where churches provided sanctuary for people who were threatened with deportation in 1982
Harry Houdini, escape artist and debunker of mystics, b. 1874
March 25th
Full Worm or Full Sap Moon
U.S. begins invasion and bombing of Iraq, 2003. Although estimates vary widely, 7,186 civilian deaths can be attributed to United States airstrikes and drones within the first two months of “Shock and Awe”. Between 184,382 and 207,156 civilians have died from direct war related violence caused by the U.S., its allies, the Iraqi military and police, and opposition forces from the time of the invasion through October 2019
“Scottsboro 9” were falsely charged and convicted of rape (and collectively served over 100 years of wrongful imprisonment) in 1931
Flannery O’Connor, writer “ A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Everything That Rises Must Converge” b. 1925
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire kills 147 workers locked in the building by their NYC employer, 1911
Holi, the Indian Festival of Colors, celebrating the divine love of Radha Krishna, the triumph of good over evil, and the coming of spring
March 26th
Joseph Campbell, cultural anthropologist author of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, and The Masks of God, b. 1904
Cherokee Indians came to the end of the “Trail of Tears,” a forced march from their ancestral home in the Smoky Mountains to the Oklahoma Territory, in 1839
One million people march on Washington D.C. for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender rights in 1993
John James Audubon, author and illustrator of Birds of America, b. 1785
March 27th
Patty Smith Hill, principal of the Louisville Experimental Kindergarten, first president of the National Association of the Education of Young Children, wrote Happy Birthday, b.1868
60,000 people march against the Vietnam War in New York City in 1968
Yellowbellied Sapsuckers can be found throughout the state of Connecticut in the Winter but begin to head to their nesting grounds in the Western and Eastern corners of the state in early Spring
March 28th
2 grandmas, 2 priests, and a nun sentenced for vandalizing US nuke stockpile, in 2011
Striped Skunks mating
Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “The Birds” is released in 1963
March 29th
Last U.S. troops leave South Vietnam in 1973″
Wood turtles mating. “Saw two wood tortoises at the bottom of the brook one upon another. The upper and larger one was decidedly bronze on the back–the under one with more sharply grooved scales” Thoreau’s Animals, 1852
People’s Climate March on Washington D.C. and over three hundred other cities, 2017
March 30
The 15th Amendment was passed in 1870. The 15th Amendment declared that the right of U.S. citizens to vote could “not be abridged or denied” by any state” on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
Wild turkeys mating
Anna Sewall, author of Black Beauty, b 1820
March 31st
Marge Piercy, b. Writer activist, feminist, “Women on the Edge of Time,” The Art of Blessing the Day,” b. 1936
Jack Johnson, 1st African-American heavyweight boxing champion of the world, b. 1878
Ceasar Chavez, American labor union leader, and civil rights activist, founder of the United Farm Workers Union,b. 1927
Easter that tells the story of the cruxification of Jesus Christ and celebrations
Jelly Fungi, or “witches’ jelly” is fruiting
