06-R
124
2006 -- H 7874
Enacted 03/14/06
H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N
CELEBRATING MARCH,
2006 AS "WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH" IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
Introduced By: Representatives
Rice, Giannini, Diaz, E Coderre, and Dennigan
Date Introduced: March 14,
2006
WHEREAS,
Throughout the history of this great state and the nation, women have
pursued
just and noble goals, significantly impacting on the very bedrock of our
history. Women
faced
a unique set of obstacles in having their views recognized and managing work
and family,
but
had the foresight and initiative to imagine the future's possibilities while
still handling the
enormity
of their day-to-day responsibilities. They challenged gender barriers, fought
inequality,
won
the right to vote, overcame job discrimination and gave birth to a more
enlightened world;
and
WHEREAS,
Women such as Rhode Island’s founding mother, Anne Hutchinson, who,
after
being banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony for her views on religious freedom
and
gender
equality, helped to settle Aquidneck Island in 1637. This great woman was
considered a
rebel
for voicing an alternate view of religion and promoting equality against a
male-dominated
society,
whose law was based on church doctrine. She did this over a century before our
"founding
fathers" and at a time when women were chattel, and questioning the church
was
unlawful.
Her efforts helped to form the cornerstone of Rhode Island’s and America's
historic
acceptance
and equality for the numerous religious beliefs and various cultures that make
this
country
so great; and
WHEREAS,
Elizabeth Buffum Chace, often referred to as "the conscience of Rhode
Island,"
in 1806-1899 subsequently battled slavery, fought for women's suffrage and
defended
mill
workers' rights; and abolitionist Christiana Carteaux Bannister, who in
1820-1902
subsequently
spent her life battling social inequities and prejudice, rose to become a
successful
entrepreneur
and philanthropist; and
WHEREAS,
More recently, the late retired Supreme Court Justice, Florence Murray was
a
pioneer for women. She was a former legislator and in 1978 she was Rhode
Island's first
female
Chief Judge of the Superior Court, and in November 1999 she was the first woman
to
become
a member of the Rhode Island Supreme Court; and Senator Lila M. Sapinsley was
the
first
female Minority Leader in Rhode Island; and the late Honorable Eleanor F.
Slater was a
former
Rhode Island State Representative and State Senator, who contributed
significantly to
Rhode
Island's elderly and fair housing laws, known as a true "Grande Dame"
of Rhode Island
Democratic
politics; and
WHEREAS,
Our foremothers have often been unsung heroines, who sacrificed and
endured
immense hardships in order to build a robust and equitable nation, and their
efforts have
paved
the way for all women, in every walk of life, to succeed and be recognized; and
WHEREAS,
Women's accomplishments in sports, industry and the arts, such as Mary
Katherine
Goddard and her widowed mother, who became publishers of the Providence Gazette
newspaper,
making her the first woman publisher in America; Mary Kies, the first woman to
receive
a patent; Elizabeth Blackwell, the first women to receive a medical degree in
the United
States;
Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first black woman to receive an M.D. degree; Arabella
Mansfield,
the first women granted admission to practice law, making her the first woman
lawyer;
Edith Wharton, the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction; Gertrude
Ederle, the
first
woman to swim across the English Channel; Amelia Earhart, the first woman to
fly solo
across
the Atlantic; Muriel "Mickey" Siebert, the first woman to own a seat
on the New York
Stock
Exchange; Pearl S. Buck, the first women to receive the noble prize in
literature; Rosa
Parks,
whose brave refusal to yield her seat on a bus ignited the civil rights
movement; and Diane
Crump,
the first female jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby, have helped to
strengthen and
enrich
this nation; and
WHEREAS,
Great women in government such as Victoria Claflin Woodhull, who was
the
first woman presidential candidate in the United States; Susanna Medora Salter,
the first
woman
elected mayor of an American town; Jeannette Rankin, the first woman to be
elected to
the
U.S. House of Representatives; and Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman Justice
to the
Supreme
Court have all helped to mold and shape our democracy; and
WHEREAS,
Let us also never forget all the brave Rhode Island women, and women
across
America, who have and are serving in the United States military, facing grave
dangers, and
whose
actions are courageous and noble beyond words; and
WHEREAS,
Women have thoroughly encompassed every undertaking, advancement,
and
triumph, historically and currently attained in this country, and the
magnificent women from
Rhode
Island's past played a major role in sculpting Rhode Island's history. They are
all truly
deserving
of our recognition and praise; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED,
That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and
Providence
Plantations hereby recognizes the month of March, 2006 as "Women’s History
Month"
and proclaims such in the State of Rhode Island. We invite the citizens of the
state to
join
us in celebrating the myriad of contributions women have made in our state and
nation's
history;
and be it further
RESOLVED,
That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to
transmit
duly certified copies of this resolution to the League of Women Voters, the
Rhode Island
Commission
on Women, the Rhode Island Chapter of the National Organization of Women, and
the
Rhode Island General Assembly Women's Caucus.
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LC02767
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