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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: March 10, 2020 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 4-b <br /> SUBJECT: Women's History Month Proclamation <br /> DEPARTMENT: Human Rights and Relations <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> Annette M. Moore, (919) 245-2317 <br /> Proclamation Commissioner Renee Price, (919) 245- <br /> 2130 <br /> PURPOSE: To approve a proclamation recognizing March 2020 as Women's History Month in <br /> Orange County. <br /> BACKGROUND: Celebration of Women's History Month had its roots in the socialist and labor <br /> movements in New York City. The first "Women's Day" took place on February 28, 1909. The <br /> day honored the one year anniversary of the garment worker's strikes that had taken place in <br /> New York, where thousands of women marched for economic rights. That strike followed <br /> another strike that occurred in 1857 when garment workers marched for equal rights and 10- <br /> hour work days. Within two years the event grew into an international event. In 1975, the <br /> United Nations officially began International Women's Day; which will be celebrated on March <br /> 8t" this year. <br /> At the inception of Women's History Month, feminists in the United States saw the designation <br /> of the month as a way to celebrate a history that had largely overlooked the contributions of <br /> women in America. Women's History Month has its origins as a national celebration in 1981 <br /> when Congress authorized and requested President Jimmy Carter proclaim the week beginning <br /> March 7, 1982 as "Women's History Week." In 1987, the Women's History Month Project <br /> petitioned the US Congress to designate the month of March as "Women's History Month." <br /> Ronald Reagan was the first president to proclaim March as Women's History Month. <br /> Currently, local, state and federal governments annually proclaim March as "Women's History <br /> Month." Each year the National Women's History Project declares a theme. The 2020 theme is <br /> "Valiant Women of the Vote." The theme honors "the brave women who fought to win suffrage <br /> rights for women, and for the women who continue to fight for the voting rights of others." <br /> FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with consideration of this <br /> proclamation. <br /> SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following Orange County Social Justice Goals are applicable <br /> to this item: <br />