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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION |
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| INTRODUCED BY MANN, BISHOP, K. BOYLE, BRENNAN, BROOKS, BROWNLEE, BUXTON, CALTAGIRONE, CLYMER, P. COSTA, CREIGHTON, DALEY, DAVIS, DAY, DEASY, DELOZIER, DiGIROLAMO, DONATUCCI, EVERETT, FABRIZIO, FLECK, FRANKEL, FREEMAN, GEIST, GEORGE, GIBBONS, GILLEN, GINGRICH, GOODMAN, GRELL, GROVE, HAHN, HARHART, HENNESSEY, HESS, JOSEPHS, KAUFFMAN, W. KELLER, KIRKLAND, KORTZ, KULA, LONGIETTI, MAHONEY, MAJOR, MALONEY, MATZIE, MILLARD, MIRABITO, MOUL, MURT, M. O'BRIEN, O'NEILL, PARKER, PASHINSKI, PICKETT, PRESTON, READSHAW, ROCK, ROEBUCK, ROSS, SANTARSIERO, SANTONI, SCAVELLO, CULVER, SCHRODER, M. SMITH, SONNEY, SWANGER, THOMAS, TOEPEL, TOOHIL, VEREB, VULAKOVICH, WATERS, WATSON, WHEATLEY AND YOUNGBLOOD, MARCH 26, 2012 |
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| INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, MARCH 26, 2012 |
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| A RESOLUTION |
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1 | Recognizing the month of March 2012 as "National Women's History |
2 | Month" in Pennsylvania. |
3 | WHEREAS, After the American Revolution, the notion of |
4 | education as a safeguard for democracy created opportunities for |
5 | girls to gain only a basic education; and |
6 | WHEREAS, Pioneers of secondary education for young women |
7 | faced arguments from physicians and others who claimed either |
8 | that females were incapable of intellectual development equal to |
9 | men or that they would be harmed by striving for it; and |
10 | WHEREAS, Emma Hart Willard was born in 1787 into a |
11 | postrevolutionary America that did not value the schooling of |
12 | girls, but she became a pioneering reformer of women's education |
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1 | and a strong advocate for education for young women; and |
2 | WHEREAS, Emma Hart Willard, in her 1819 Plan for Improving |
3 | Female Education, noted with derision the focus of women's |
4 | "education" on fostering the display of youth and beauty, and |
5 | she asserted that women are "the companions, not the satellites |
6 | of men" - "primary existences" whose education must prepare them |
7 | to be full partners in life's journey; and |
8 | WHEREAS, Charlotte Forten Grimké was born in Philadelphia in |
9 | 1837 to an affluent and educated African-American family who |
10 | championed numerous civil rights organizations; and |
11 | WHEREAS, In the aftermath of the Civil War, Charlotte Forten |
12 | Grimké went to South Carolina to help educate liberated slaves; |
13 | and |
14 | WHEREAS, Charlotte Forten Grimké is remembered as a scholar, |
15 | teacher, abolitionist and crusader for education; and |
16 | WHEREAS, Annie Sullivan was born in 1866 to poor, illiterate, |
17 | Irish immigrant parents and was nearly blind from an untreated |
18 | eye infection; and |
19 | WHEREAS, Because of Annie Sullivan's disability, she was |
20 | routinely denied access to education, and her life was |
21 | transformed when she was allowed to go to school; and |
22 | WHEREAS, Annie Sullivan, having learned to overcome her |
23 | disability, successfully taught Helen Keller to transcend her |
24 | disabilities in an effort to learn and became a pioneer in the |
25 | education of students with disabilities; and |
26 | WHEREAS, While Harvard University, founded in 1636, was the |
27 | first college chartered in America, nearly two centuries would |
28 | pass before the founding of the first college to admit women, |
29 | Oberlin College, which was chartered in 1833; and |
30 | WHEREAS, Harvard University opened Radcliffe College as an |
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1 | "annex" for women in 1879 rather than admit women to the men's |
2 | college; and |
3 | WHEREAS, Single-sex education remained the elite norm in the |
4 | United States until the early 1970s; and |
5 | WHEREAS, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, passed |
6 | in 1972 and implemented in 1977, prohibits gender discrimination |
7 | by federally funded institutions; and |
8 | WHEREAS, The enactment of Title IX is responsible for women's |
9 | fuller participation in all aspects of education, from |
10 | scholarships, to facilities, to classes formerly closed to |
11 | women; and |
12 | WHEREAS, The equal opportunity to learn, taken for granted by |
13 | most young women today, owes much to the enactment of Title IX; |
14 | and |
15 | WHEREAS, The commitment of women to educational equality |
16 | throughout the entirety of academia has resulted in the |
17 | ascension of women in politics and government; and |
18 | WHEREAS, Crystal Bird Fauset, who helped establish the |
19 | Swarthmore College Institute of Race Relations, became the first |
20 | African-American woman to be elected to the Pennsylvania House |
21 | of Representatives, at the time representing Philadelphia's 18th |
22 | Legislative District; and |
23 | WHEREAS, Currently, 72 women hold statewide executive offices |
24 | nationwide; and |
25 | WHEREAS, Currently, 1,745 women hold seats in state |
26 | legislatures nationwide; and |
27 | WHEREAS, The year 2012 marks the 32nd anniversary of the |
28 | National Women's History Project; and |
29 | WHEREAS, The year 2012 also marks the 40th anniversary of the |
30 | enactment of Title IX; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, The National Women's History Project began with a |
2 | proclamation by President Jimmy Carter that declared the week of |
3 | March 8, 1980, as the first "National Women's History Week"; and |
4 | WHEREAS, The recognition of March as "Women's History Month" |
5 | highlights the numerous contributions of women across this |
6 | Commonwealth and our nation who helped create educational |
7 | equality and a more fair and just society for all people; |
8 | therefore be it |
9 | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize March |
10 | 2012 as "National Women's History Month" in Pennsylvania and |
11 | invite the women, men and children of this Commonwealth to |
12 | continue to explore the many roles women played and continue to |
13 | play to secure educational equality for all, to explore the |
14 | contributions of women to help empower the entire Commonwealth |
15 | and the nation and to celebrate "National Women's History Month" |
16 | in 2012 with the theme of "Women's Education – Women's |
17 | Empowerment." |
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