MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2015 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Dawkins, Jackson (11th), Turner, Simmons (12th), Butler (38th), Jolly
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION DESIGNATING MARCH 2015 AS "WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH IN MISSISSIPPI" WITH ITS THEME "WEAVING THE STORIES OF WOMEN'S LIVES," CELEBRATING THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WOMEN'S HISTORY MOVEMENT.
WHEREAS, March 2015 is National Women's History Month with its theme "Weaving the Stories of Women's Lives," which presents the opportunity to weave women's stories, individually and collectively, into the essential fabric of our nation's history. Accounts of the lives of individual women are critically important because they reveal exceptionally strong role models who share a more expansive vision of what a woman can do. The stories of women's lives, and the choices they made, encourage girls and young women to think larger and bolder, and give boys and men a fuller understanding of the female experience. Knowing women's achievements challenges stereotypes and upends social assumptions about who women are and what women can accomplish today. There is a real power in hearing women's stories, both personally and in a larger context. Remembering and recounting tales of our ancestors' talents, sacrifices and commitments inspires today's generations and opens the way to the future; and
WHEREAS, 2015 is also the 35th Anniversary of the Women's History Movement and the National Women's History Project. We are proud that, after decades of dedicated research and technological advances, the stories of American women from all cultures and classes are accessible and visible as never before. Numerous scholars and activists helped shape the Women's History Movement, and also provided the research and energy which created and sustains the national Women's History Project. During 2015, we recognize and celebrate the many ways that women's history has become woven into the fabric of our national story; and
WHEREAS, 2015 National Women's History Month Honorees have written, co-authored or edited more than 60 books and produced 30 CDs. Collectively, their creations reveal the depth and breadth of the multicultural female experience. They have woven women's stories into the fabric of our history: Delilah L. Beasley (1867-1934), Historian and Newspaper Columnist; Gladys Tantaquidgeon (1899-2005), Mohegan Medicine Woman, Anthropologist and Tribal Elder; Eleanor Flexner (1908-1995), Historian and Independent Scholar; Polly Welts Kaufman (1929-Present), Writer, Teacher and Activist; Lynn Sherr (1943-Present), Broadcast Journalist and Author; Judy Yung (1946-Present), Oral Historian, Author and Professor; Darlene Clark Hine (1947-Present), Historian and Educator; Holly Near (1949-Present), Singer, Songwriter and Social Activist; and Vicki L. Ruiz (1955-Present), Educator and Pioneer in Latina History; and
WHEREAS, in National Women's History Month, we honor all women who have touched this nation's history and our own personal history, and women who contribute to the people and ideals of this great country; and
WHEREAS, although women now outnumber men in American colleges nationwide, the reversal of the gender gap is a very recent phenomenon. The fight to learn was a valiant struggle waged by many tenacious women, across years and across cultures, in our country. After the American Revolution, the notion of education as a safeguard for democracy created opportunities for girls to gain a basic education, based largely on the premise that, as mothers, they would nurture not only the bodies but also the minds of (male) citizens and leaders. The concept that educating women meant educating mothers endured in America for many years, at all levels of education. While Harvard, the first college chartered in America, was founded in 1636, it would be almost two centuries before the founding of the first college to admit women, Oberlin, which was chartered in 1833; and
WHEREAS, the equal opportunity to learn, taken for granted by most young women today, owes much to Title IX of the Education Codes of the Higher Education Act Amendments. This legislation, passed in 1972 and enacted in 1977, prohibited gender discrimination by federally funded institutions. It has become the primary tool for women's fuller participation in all aspects of education from scholarships, to facilities, to classes formerly closed to women. Indeed, it transformed the educational landscape of the United States within the span of a generation; and
WHEREAS, American women have played and continue to play a critical economic, cultural and social role in every sphere of the life of the nation by constituting a significant portion of the labor force working inside and outside of the home. American women have played a unique role throughout the history of the nation by providing the majority of the volunteer labor force of the nation. American women were particularly important in the establishment of early charitable, philanthropic and cultural institutions in our nation; and
WHEREAS, American women of every race, class and ethnic background have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our nation in countless recorded and unrecorded ways. Women's history becomes a story of inspiration and hope, a story of courage and tenacity, and a story of possibility and purpose. Women's history is our nation's story. It is the story of how women built communities and inspired and nurtured dreams and how they will continue to do so; and
WHEREAS, to emphasize the role of women in our state, the Legislature in 2001 established the Mississippi Commission on the Status of Women to advise and consult with the Legislature and the executive branch on policies affecting the political status and other concerns of women in Mississippi; and it is with great pride that we recognize women who serve as role models in pioneering Mississippi's future:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby designate March 2015 as "Women's History Month in Mississippi" with its theme "Weaving the Stories of Women's Lives," celebrating the 35th Anniversary of the Women's History Movement.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be forwarded to the Mississippi Commission on the Status of Women to observe appropriate programs, ceremonies and activities, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.