WHEREAS, Women's history was rarely the subject of serious study before the women's movement of the sixties. The movement caused women to question their invisibility in traditional American history texts and raised the aspirations as well as the opportunities for women; and

WHEREAS, Throughout, history, women have addressed issues that threaten children and the family as well as circumstances of economic and political discrimination. The struggle for Women's Rights and gender equality has not been limited to the United States but is a goal and ideal sought around the world; and

WHEREAS, Beginning with the Suffragette Movement in the latter part of the 19^th century, led by Susan B. Anthony and other notable women, American women have been struggling for full equality in all walks of American life; and

WHEREAS, Some of the many pioneers clearing the way for all women to pursue their destiny were: Carroll Smith-Rosenburg, one of the early women historians; Jeanette Rankin, the first United States Congresswoman; Pearl S. Buck, the first woman to win the Nobel in literature; Wilma Rudolph, the first woman runner to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games; Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman justice on the United States Supreme Court; and Sally Ride, the first American woman in space; and

WHEREAS, Susan Haghurst was the first woman to secure a pharmacy degree in 1883; Juliet Low established the Girl Scouts in 1912; Agnes Nestor was the first woman elected president of an international labor union in 1913; Miriam Amanda Ferguson of Texas was elected the first governor of a state in 1924; Sue S. Dauser became the first woman appointed captain in the United States Navy in 1944; Gwendolyn Brooks was the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1950; Rosa Parks ignited the civil rights movement by refusing to yield her seat in a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955; Jerrie Mock became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe in 1964; Betty Goldstein Friedan founded the National Organization for Women in 1966; Bonnie Tiburzi was the first woman to be hired as a jet pilot by a major airline in 1973; and

WHEREAS, In 1892 the first labor law to include equal rights for women was passed in Illinois; the amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, was enacted by Congress in 1919; and Title IX, banning academic or athletic discrimination on the basis of gender was passed; and

WHEREAS, In 1987, the United States Congress declared March as "Women's History Month". The number of women elected to government offices and leadership positions has steadily increased over the past twenty years. But there is still so much more to accomplish; and

WHEREAS, Women in the State of Rhode Island were true and forceful leaders in improving the quality of life in the community; women like Eleanor Eldridge (1785-1862), who fought to get her property returned to her; Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935), who encouraged women to be financially independent; Mary Grant (1867-1940), who helped to establish Miriam Hospital; Christiana Bannister (1820-1902), founded the Home for Aged and Colored Women; and Lillian Gilbreth (1878-1972), who, as a management consultant, developed standards of efficiency for the home and in the workplace; and

WHEREAS, Women have consistently demonstrated that they have much to offer in all areas of human endeavor including science, law, politics, health care, human services, education, the arts, athletics, and economics; and

WHEREAS, Today women draw from the strength of the women who have gone before them, as well as the women who will follow; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations hereby proudly proclaims March to be "Women's History Month" in Rhode Island. We applaud and encourage the great strides and contributions made by women throughout history; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he is hereby authorized and directed to transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the League of Women Voters, the Rhode Island Commission on Women, and the Rhode Island Women's Caucus.