City of Fairfax Women's History Month Reception and Proclamation

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

6 p.m. - Reception (Catered by Fair City Cookies, Bisnonna Bakeshop and Liberty Baking)
7 p.m. - Council Meeting

Location: City Hall
10455 Armstrong St.

The reception will feature goodies from three local female-owned bakeries, students from the Fairfax High School Academy for Communications and the Arts Fashion program and music from The Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music at George Mason University. 

Please bring a donation for the Feminine Hygiene Product Drive.

 “Moving Forward Together:  Women Educating & Inspiring Generations”

Sunday, March 23
1pm

Location: City Hall
10455 Armstrong Street 

Join a panel of local women educators as they share personal experiences and lessons learned and highlight the contributions of women educators in shaping communities, fostering mentorship, and leading with purpose. The event will conclude with an opportunity to share light refreshments and connect with each other.

2025 Women's Storytelling Festival

Friday, March 21, 7 pm
Saturday, March 22, 11 am - 9:30 pm
Sunday, March 23, 10 am - 5 pm

The Sherwood Center
3740 Blenheim Blvd., Fairfax 

Women’s Stories Shared – In-person and online

Visit our site for more details and ticket information!

The Women's Storytelling Festival, produced annually in March by Better Said Than Done, is a festival celebrating all women and gender nonconforming, spoken-word performing artists.  The festival debuted in March 2020 in Fairfax City, VA. The Women's Storytelling Festival is performed live, in-person, as well as live-streamed and available to online viewers for one month after the live-stream.

The 2025 Women's Storytelling Festival 2025 storytellers are:

Laura Deal, Swapna Deshpande, Linda Gorham, Jennifer Hillery, Tobey Ishli Anderson, Andrea Kamens, Amanda Lawrence, Carol Moore, Miriam Nadel, Ingrid Nixon, Laura Packer, Jessica Robinson, Aimee Snow and Sarah Snyder.  Karin Amano, Sarah Brady, Sarah Beth Nelson, Shani Womack, and Janel Woodland will be performing in a virtual-only concert, premiering March 20, 2025, and available to everyone who buys a ticket. 

The Women's Storytelling Festival is intended for a mature audience.

Jennie Dean: From Slavery to Visionary
in the Field of Education

Wednesday, March 12
7 - 8 pm

City of Fairfax Regional Library
10360 North Street, Fairfax
Adults (16+)
Free, registration required

Presented by Marion Dobbins, a seventh-generation Virginian from Fairfax County, and a historian and ethnographer with extensive experience collaborating with historians at Colonial Williamsburg, Gunston Hall, Sully Historic Site, Colvin Run Mill, and the National Park Service's Manassas Battlefield.   Jennie Dean, a native of Prince William County who was once enslaved, founded the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth after Emancipation. The school opened in September 1894 with a keynote address by Frederick Douglass. Dean organized a visit for her students to meet President Theodore Roosevelt at the White House. She also championed women's rights at a convention in Washington, D.C., where she encountered Susan B. Anthony. For more information about the presenter and the event, or to make your reservation, please click here. 

This program is cosponsored by the League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan, grassroots organization working to protect and expand voting rights and ensure everyone is represented in our democracy.