Overview

• Argentina and Uruguay mark the date on September 4, set after the First Inter‑American Congress of Secretaries in Buenos Aires in the early 1970s.
• One widely cited origin story ties the tribute to the 19th‑century typewriter and Lilian Sholes, remembered as an early public typist.
• Another account credits the U.S. professional push that created the National Association of Secretaries in 1942 and, under María Barret in 1952, launched National Secretaries Week with support from business figures.
• Current coverage underscores how the role expanded from typing to agenda and meeting management, documentation control and executive decision support, and it is no longer limited to women.
• Observance dates vary across Latin America—April 26 in several Andean and Central American countries, September 30 in Venezuela and Brazil, and June 16 in Mexico—and the IAAP rebranded the recognition in 2000 as Administrative Professionals Week (third week of April) and Administrative Professionals Day (April 21).