The organization has its roots in developments within the German and American women's movements and in growth of women's studies as an area of academic inquiry in the 1970s, developed during informal meetings of feminist Germanists at the annual conventions of the MLA and AATG.
[4] During the early years, the newsletter included news about the women's movement in Germany.
The organization has an annual conference for members that was first held in 1976, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
The first conference program was called "Feminism and German Studies: An Interdisciplinary Perspective.
"work groups"] to "encourage greater involvement on the part of all participants and to eliminate the typical split between 'active' papergivers and a 'passive' audience.
"[8] The goal of collective work remains important, however the growing size of the conference has caused changes in the format.
Women in German also promotes members' work annually by supporting stipends for graduate student travel, professional development, and faculty research.
[13] The organization has held meetings or presentations at both the MLA and AATG conventions nearly every year since its inception.