Before it became Women’s History Month, the national holiday began as Women’s History Week. President Jimmy Carter issued a Presidential Proclamation that declared the week of March 8, 1980 the first national Women’s History Week. In his address, he said, in part:

“Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.”

In celebration of Women’s History Month, RED spoke with Jacqueline McLeod, Ph.D., a professor in Metropolitan State University of Denver’s Department of Africana Studies, and Renee Fajardo, J.D., coordinator for MSU Denver’s Journey Through Our Heritage Program in the Department of Chicana/o Studies, about the women who shaped them.

McLeod teaches African American history, Caribbean history and African history, among other courses. She’s the author of “Daughter of the Empire State: The Life of Judge Jane Bolin,” a biography of the first African American woman judge in the U.S.

RELATED: Q&A: The legacy and impact of Black women judges in the U.S.

Fajardo leads the Journey Through Our Heritage program at MSU Denver, which places University students of color into local high schools and middle schools as mentors. She’s also the author of “Return of the Corn Mothers: Inspiring Women of the Southwest,” an anthology of photographs and stories of women whose lives and work embody the spirit of community.

RELATED: TEDxMSUDenver rises to the occasion