44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

REQUESTING THE DESIGNATION OF THE MONTH OF MARCH AS WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH.

WHEREAS, New Mexican women have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our state in countless recorded and unrecorded ways; and

WHEREAS, New Mexican women have played and continued to play a critical economic, cultural and social role in every sphere of the life of the state by constituting a significant portion of the labor force working inside and outside of the home; and

WHEREAS, New Mexican women have played a unique role throughout the history of the state by providing the majority of the volunteer labor force of the state; and

WHEREAS, New Mexican women were particularly important in the establishment of early charitable, philanthropic and cultural institutions in our state; and

WHEREAS, New Mexican women of every race, class and ethnic background served as early leaders in the forefront of every major progressive social change movement; and

WHEREAS, New Mexican women have been leaders not only in securing their own rights of suffrage and equal opportunity, but in securing the rights of others, in the emancipation, industrial labor, civil rights and peace movements, creating a more just society for all; and

WHEREAS, despite these contributions, the role of New Mexican women in history has been consistently overlooked and undervalued in the literature, teaching and study of New Mexican history;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the month of March be designated as "Women's History Month". The governor is requested to issue a proclamation annually, calling upon the people of New Mexico to observe women's history month with appropriate programs, ceremonies and activities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor and to the commission on the status of women.