Bill Text: MS SC631 | 2017 | Regular Session | Engrossed
Bill Title: Designate March 2017 as "Women's History Month in Mississippi."
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 18-6)
Status: (Failed) 2017-03-29 - Died In Committee [SC631 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2017-SC631-Engrossed.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2017 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Dawkins, Jackson (11th), Jordan, Frazier, Blackmon, Simmons (12th), Horhn, Stone, Turner-Ford, Witherspoon, Norwood, Butler, Blount, Jolly, Jackson (32nd), Dearing
Senate Concurrent Resolution 631
(As Adopted by Senate)
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION DESIGNATING MARCH 2017 AS "WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH IN MISSISSIPPI" WITH ITS THEME "HONORING TRAILBLAZING WOMEN IN LABOR AND BUSINESS," CELEBRATING THE 37TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WOMEN'S HISTORY MOVEMENT.
WHEREAS, March 2017 is National Women's History Month with its theme "Honoring Trailblazing Women in Labor and Business." The 2017 theme for National Women's History Month honors women who have successfully challenged the role of women in both business and the paid labor force. Women have always worked, but often their work has been undervalued and unpaid. The 2017 Honorees represent many diverse backgrounds and each made her mark in a different field. Additionally, the Honorees' work and influence spans three centuries of America's history. These women all successfully challenged the social and legal structures that have kept women's labor underappreciated and underpaid. Facing stark inequalities in the workplace (lower wages, poor working conditions and limited opportunities), they fought to make the workplace a less hostile environment for women. They succeeded in expanding women's participation in commerce and their power in the paid labor force. As labor and business leaders and innovators they defied the social mores of their times by demonstrating women's ability to create organizations and establish their own businesses that paved the way for better working conditions and wages for themselves and other women. They proved that women could succeed in every field. While each Honoree is extraordinary, each is also ordinary in her own way, proving that women business and labor leaders can and should be considered the norm. Most importantly, the 2017 Honorees paved the way for generations of women labor and business leaders to follow; and
WHEREAS, Rebecca Anderson, Community and Economic Development Organizer; Barbara Hackman Franklin, Former Secretary of Commerce; Alexis Herman, Former Secretary of Labor; Lilly Ledbetter, Equal Pay Activist; Kate Mullany, Organized First All-Female Union; Lucy Gonzalez Parsons, Labor Organizer and Socialist Leader; Barbara "Dusty" Roads, Flight Attendant's Union Leader; Andra Rush, Founder/CEO, Rush Group; Nina Vaca, CEO and Chairman of Pinnacle Group; Maggie Lena Walker, Businesswoman and Community Banking Leader; Yvonne Walker, President, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1000; Addie L. Wyatt, Labor Union Leader and Civil Rights Activist; and Norma Yaeger, First woman Stockbroker to be permitted on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE); and
WHEREAS, this year, U.S. Navy commands are encouraged to celebrate and reflect on the theme "Honoring Trailblazing Women in Labor and Business." Women have served in the Navy as nurses dating back to the 1800s, most notably during the Civil War when the Sisters of the Holy Cross served aboard USS Red Rover, the Navy's first hospital ship. In 1948, women gained permanent status in the Navy with the passage of the Women's Armed Services Integration Act. One hundred years ago this month, in March of 1917, Chief Yeoman Loretta Perfectus Walsh became the first female Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy, setting the course for trailblazing women serving as leaders in the U.S. Navy; 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 2017 as "Women's History Month in Mississippi" with its theme "Honoring Trailblazing Women in Labor and Business," celebrating the 37th 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.
