WHEREAS, American women of every race, class, and ethnicity have participated in the founding and building of our nation and have played a critical role in shaping the economic, cultural, and social fabric of our society, not in the least of ways through their participation in the labor force, working both inside and outside the home; and

WHEREAS, Women have been leaders in every movement for social change, including their own movement for suffrage, the fight for emancipation, the struggle to organize labor unions, and the civil rights movement; and

WHEREAS, In light of these efforts and the achievements of all American women we take this opportunity to honor women and their contribution to the development of our society and our world; and

WHEREAS, The celebration of Women’s History Month will provide an opportunity for schools and communities to focus attention on the historical role and accomplishments of the women of California and the United States, and for students, in particular, to benefit from an awareness of these contributions; and

WHEREAS, Women’s History Month will include International Women’s Day on March 8, originally proclaimed in 1910 to recognize and commemorate the valuable contributions women have made to the labor movement in improving working conditions and thus, bettering people’s lives; and

WHEREAS, Women’s History Month will be not only a call to acknowledge the outstanding American women whose names we know, but also a call to pay homage to the many women who have anonymously shaped our collective past; and

WHEREAS, The observance of Women’s History Week was initiated by the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women in 1978, a celebration that evolved into Women’s History Month, commemorated throughout the nation by schools, historians, and community groups; and

WHEREAS, The achievements of women who have gone before us will enable contemporary women and men to create tomorrow’s history by working toward an end to physical and sexual violence against women, discrimination and harassment in employment, the relegation to poverty status of many women, and by advocating for the full participation of women in the economic and political arena, the provision of adequate child care, respect for those who choose homemaking and motherhood as their career, and equal access to all of the opportunities this great nation has to offer; and

WHEREAS, The story of the women’s rights movement deserves telling because of the significance and scope of women’s role in making history and shaping the cultural and societal makeup of California and the United States, and because it is a rich part of our common heritage, a story of gallantry and devotion to the belief that the opportunity for complete human dignity should not be denied to one-half of the state and the nation; and

WHEREAS, The National Women’s History Project has adopted “See History in a New Way” as the 1996 theme for Women’s History Month, inviting all Californians to see women’s lives and accomplishments as an essential part of our national history, recognizing that history looks very different when the contributions, accomplishments, and perspectives of women are added to our shared legacy as Americans, thereby increasing our understanding of the world in which we live today and expanding our possibilities for the future; now, therefore, be it