Florida Senate - 2016 (NP) SR 1724
By Senators Joyner and Thompson
19-01845C-16 20161724__
1 Senate Resolution
2 A resolution recognizing March 2016 as “Women’s
3 History Month” in Florida.
4
5 WHEREAS, women have made historic contributions to the
6 growth and strength of this state in countless ways, recorded
7 and unrecorded, and
8 WHEREAS, women have played, and continue to play, a
9 critical economic, cultural, and social role in every sphere of
10 life by constituting a significant portion of the labor force,
11 working inside and outside the home, and
12 WHEREAS, women have played a unique role throughout the
13 history of this nation by providing the majority of our
14 volunteer labor force, and were particularly important in the
15 establishment of early charitable, philanthropic, and cultural
16 institutions, and
17 WHEREAS, women of every race, class, and ethnic background
18 served as early leaders in the forefront of every major
19 progressive movement to improve society, and
20 WHEREAS, women have been leaders not only in securing their
21 own rights of suffrage and equal opportunity, but also in the
22 abolitionist movement, the industrial labor movement, the civil
23 rights movement, the environmental justice movement, and other
24 social justice campaigns, especially the peace movement,
25 creating a more fair and just society for all, and
26 WHEREAS, despite these contributions, the role of women has
27 been consistently overlooked and undervalued in literature and
28 in the teaching and study of history, and
29 WHEREAS, in recognition of the contributions of women,
30 Congress has passed a resolution each year since 1987
31 designating the month of March as “Women’s History Month,” and
32 WHEREAS, in 2016 the theme of Women’s History Month is
33 “Working to Form a More Perfect Union: Honoring Women in Public
34 Service and Government” and the month of March presents special
35 opportunities to celebrate the accomplishments of women,
36 including Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, who have shaped
37 America’s history and its future through their public service
38 and leadership, and
39 WHEREAS, among the 2016 Women’s History Month national
40 honorees are Sonia Pressman Fuentes, who graduated first in her
41 class from the University of Miami School of Law in 1957, was a
42 co-founder of the National Organization for Women, and became
43 the first woman attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at
44 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; Nadine Smith, a
45 civil rights activist in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
46 transgender civil rights movement and executive director of
47 Equality Florida; and the late Betty Mae Tiger Jumper, the first
48 and only female chief of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, who was
49 a nurse and the co-founder and editor of the tribe’s first
50 newspaper, the Seminole News, and
51 WHEREAS, on January 27, 2016, three outstanding women,
52 Carol Jenkins Barnett of Lakeland, Helen Aguirre Ferré of Miami
53 Shores, and Elmira Louise Leto of Key West, will be inducted
54 into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame, and
55 WHEREAS, we honor women pioneers in the Florida
56 Legislature, including the late Representative Edna Giles Fuller
57 and the late Senator Beth Johnson, both of whom represented
58 Orange County, the first women to serve in their respective
59 chambers in 1929 and 1962, respectively; the late Senator Mary
60 R. Grizzle, the first Republican woman to serve in the Florida
61 Legislature, who was elected to the House of Representatives in
62 1963; the late Representative Gwen Sawyer Cherry, who, in 1970,
63 became the first black woman elected to serve in the Florida
64 Legislature; Senator Carrie Meek, who, in 1982, became the first
65 black woman elected to the Florida Senate; Representative Ileana
66 Ros-Lehtinen, who now represents Florida’s 27th district in
67 Congress and who, in 1982, became the first Hispanic woman to
68 serve in the Florida House of Representatives and, in 1986,
69 became the first Hispanic woman to serve in the Florida Senate;
70 Senator Gwen Margolis, who was elected Senate President in 1990,
71 making her the first legislative woman presiding officer in this
72 state and the first woman Senate President in any state; and
73 Senator Toni Jennings, who became the first Republican woman
74 presiding officer when she was elected Senate President in 1996,
75 NOW, THEREFORE,
76
77 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
78
79 That March 2016 is recognized as “Women’s History Month” in
80 Florida, and we call upon the residents of this state to
81 participate in programs, ceremonies, and activities to foster an
82 awareness of and appreciation for the contributions made by
83 women which have benefited and improved society.