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23 <br /> 1 <br /> 2 BACKGROUND: <br /> 3 Celebration of Women's History Month had its roots in the socialist and labor movements in <br /> 4 New York City. The first "Women's Day" took place on February 28, 1909. The day honored the <br /> 5 one-year anniversary of the garment worker's strikes that had taken place in New York, where <br /> 6 thousands of women marched for economic rights. That strike followed another strike that <br /> 7 occurred in 1857 when garment workers marched for equal rights and 10-hour work days. <br /> 8 Within two years the event grew into an international event. In 1975, the United Nations <br /> 9 officially began International Women's Day; which will be celebrated on March 8th this year. <br /> 10 <br /> 11 At the inception of Women's History Month, feminists in the United States saw the designation <br /> 12 of the month as a way to celebrate a history that had largely overlooked the contributions of <br /> 13 women in America. Women's History Month has its origins as a national celebration in 1981 <br /> 14 when Congress authorized and requested President Jimmy Carter proclaim the week beginning <br /> 15 March 7, 1982 as "Women's History Week." In 1987, the Women's History Month Project <br /> 16 petitioned the US Congress to designate the month of March as "Women's History Month." <br /> 17 Ronald Reagan was the first president to proclaim March as Women's History Month. <br /> 18 <br /> 19 Currently, local, state and federal governments annually proclaim March as "Women's History <br /> 20 Month." Each year the National Women's History Alliance declares a theme. The 2021 theme is <br /> 21 "Valiant Women of the Vote — Refusing to be Silenced." <br /> 22 <br /> 23 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br /> 24 <br /> 25 WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH <br /> 26 PROCLAMATION <br /> 27 <br /> 28 WHEREAS, American women of every race, class, and ethnic background have made <br /> 29 historic contributions to the growth and strength of our Nation in countless recorded and <br /> 30 unrecorded ways; and <br /> 31 <br /> 32 WHEREAS, American women have played and continue to play critical economic, <br /> 33 cultural, and social role in every sphere of the life of the Nation by constituting a significant <br /> 34 portion of the labor force working inside and outside of the home; and <br /> 35 <br /> 36 WHEREAS, American women of every race, class, and ethnic background served as <br /> 37 early leaders in the forefront of every major progressive social change movement; <br /> 38 <br /> 39 WHEREAS, American women have been leaders, not only in securing their own rights of <br /> 40 suffrage and equal opportunity, but also in the abolitionist movement, the emancipation <br /> 41 movement, the industrial labor movement, the civil rights movement, and other movements, <br /> 42 especially the peace movement, which create a more fair and just society for all; and <br /> 43 <br /> 44 WHEREAS, because of the courage of so many bold women who dared to transcend <br /> 45 preconceived expectations and prove they were capable of doing all that a man could do and <br /> 46 more, advances were made, discoveries revealed, barriers were broken and progress <br /> 47 triumphed; and <br /> 48 <br /> 49 WHEREAS, despite these contributions, the role of American women in history has been <br /> 50 consistently overlooked and undervalued, in the literature, teaching and study of American <br /> 51 history; and <br />