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7 <br /> 1 A motion was made by Commissioner Price, seconded by Chair Rich for the Board to <br /> 2 approve and authorize the Chair to sign the Proclamation. <br /> 3 <br /> 4 VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br /> 5 <br /> 6 b. Women's History Month Proclamation <br /> 7 The Board considered voting to approve a proclamation recognizing March 2020 as <br /> 8 Women's History Month in Orange County and authorizing the Chair to sign. <br /> 9 <br /> 10 BACKGROUND: Celebration of Women's History Month had its roots in the socialist and labor <br /> 11 movements in New York City. The first "Women's Day" took place on February 28, 1909. The <br /> 12 day honored the one-year anniversary of the garment worker's strikes that had taken place in <br /> 13 New York, where thousands of women marched for economic rights. That strike followed <br /> 14 another strike that occurred in 1857 when garment workers marched for equal rights and 10- <br /> 15 hour work days. Within two years the event grew into an international event. In 1975, the United <br /> 16 Nations officially began International Women's Day; which will be celebrated on March 81" this <br /> 17 year. <br /> 18 <br /> 19 At the inception of Women's History Month, feminists in the United States saw the designation <br /> 20 of the month as a way to celebrate a history that had largely overlooked the contributions of <br /> 21 women in America. Women's History Month has its origins as a national celebration in 1981 <br /> 22 when Congress authorized and requested President Jimmy Carter proclaim the week beginning <br /> 23 March 7, 1982 as "Women's History Week." In 1987, the Women's History Month Project <br /> 24 petitioned the US Congress to designate the month of March as "Women's History Month." <br /> 25 Ronald Reagan was the first president to proclaim March as Women's History Month. <br /> 26 Currently, local, state and federal governments annually proclaim March as "Women's History <br /> 27 Month." Each year the National Women's History Project declares a theme. The 2020 theme is <br /> 28 "Valiant Women of the Vote." The theme honors "the brave women who fought to win suffrage <br /> 29 rights for women, and for the women who continue to fight for the voting rights of others." <br /> 30 <br /> 31 Annette Moore, Human Rights and Relations Director, read the Proclamation: <br /> 32 <br /> 33 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br /> 34 WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH <br /> 35 PROCLAMATION <br /> 36 <br /> 37 WHEREAS, American women of every race, class, and ethnic background have made historic <br /> 38 contributions to the growth and strength of our Nation in countless recorded and unrecorded <br /> 39 ways; and <br /> 40 <br /> 41 WHEREAS, American women have played and continue to play critical economic, cultural, and <br /> 42 social role in every sphere of the life of the Nation by constituting a significant portion of the <br /> 43 labor force working inside and outside of the home; and <br /> 44 <br /> 45 WHEREAS, American women of every race, class, and ethnic background served as early <br /> 46 leaders in the forefront of every major progressive social change movement; <br /> 47 <br /> 48 WHEREAS, American women have been leaders, not only in securing their own rights of <br /> 49 suffrage and equal opportunity, but also in the abolitionist movement, the emancipation <br />