SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 5

BY  BOETTGER

A Resolution recognizing March 2011 as Iowa Women’s History Month.

   WHEREAS, Iowa women of every race, class, and ethnic background have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our state and nation in countless recorded and unrecorded ways, including through the struggle for women’s rights; and
   WHEREAS, Iowa women have played and continue to play a critical economic, cultural, and social role by constituting a significant portion of the labor force working inside and outside of the home, despite being underpaid; and
   WHEREAS, Iowa women were particularly important in the establishment of early charitable, philanthropic, and cultural institutions in our state and nation; and
   WHEREAS, Iowa women and men amended Article I, section 1, of the Constitution of Iowa to read that “All men and women are, by nature, free and equal, and have certain inalienable rights”; and
   WHEREAS, Iowa women have been leaders in business and industry as well as the abolitionist movement, the emancipation movement, the industrial labor movement, the civil rights movement, the peace movement, and the women’s suffrage movement, which have created a more fair and just society for all; and
   WHEREAS, despite these contributions, and those of women throughout the world, the role of women has been consistently overlooked and undervalued in the literature, teaching, and study of history; NOW THEREFORE,

   BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That the Senate recognizes the month of March 2011 as Iowa Women’s History Month and invites the citizens of Iowa to continue to uncover the roles women have played throughout history.