Senate Resolution No. 1903

BY: Senator STEWART-COUSINS

MEMORIALIZING Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim
March 2024, as Women's History Month in the State of
New York

WHEREAS, March is Women's History Month; and

WHEREAS, March 8th is International Women's Day; and

WHEREAS, Each year New York State officially sets aside time to
recognize the unique contributions that New York women have made to New
York State and beyond; and

WHEREAS, New York State has a distinguished history of monumental
achievements in the area of women's rights; and

WHEREAS, In 1826, New York State opened one of the first public high
schools for girls resulting in a future for women in which they were no
longer confined to the home, a future in which they were educated and
able to use this education to better their social and economic status;
and

WHEREAS, In 1848 in New York, the first women's rights convention
was held at Seneca Falls to secure for all women the right to vote; and

WHEREAS, In 1903, The Women's Trade Union League of New York was
formed to represent working women, later becoming the nucleus for the
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union; and

WHEREAS, In 1917, New York guaranteed women the right to vote in all
elections and in the following year the first two women, Ida Sammis and
Mary Lilly, were elected to the New York State Legislature and became
the first women to then serve in 1919; and

WHEREAS, Rhoda Fox Graves, in 1934, became the first woman to be
elected to the New York State Senate; she served from 1935 to 1948,
sitting in the 158th, 159th, 160th, 161st, 162nd, 163rd, 164th, 165th,
and 166th New York State Legislatures; and

WHEREAS, In 1955, Bessie Buchanan was the first African-American
woman to serve in the New York State Legislature; and

WHEREAS, In 1967, Muriel Siebert became the first woman to own a
seat on the New York Stock Exchange, opening the door for women to gain
positions of greater economic power; and

WHEREAS, In 1968, New York State Assemblywoman Shirley Chisholm
became the first Black woman elected to Congress and in 1972, she ran
for President of the United States, another first for Black women; and

WHEREAS, In 1970, New York City was the site of the first Women's
Strike for Equality in which 50,000 people marched for equal rights; and

WHEREAS, In 1978, Olga Mendez became the first Latina woman to serve
in the New York State Legislature; and

WHEREAS, In 1983, New York State women legislators established the
Legislative Women's Caucus to improve the participation of women in all
areas of government, support issues that benefit women and provide a
network of support for women in the State Legislature; and

WHEREAS, In 2007, Ellen Young was the first Asian-American woman to
serve in the New York State Legislature; and

WHEREAS, In 2009, New Yorker Sonia Sotomayor became the first
Hispanic Justice appointed to the United States Supreme Court; and

WHEREAS, In 2015, New Yorker Loretta Elizabeth Lynch was appointed
as Attorney General of the United States, becoming the first
African-American woman to serve in this esteemed position; and

WHEREAS, In 2020, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was born and raised in
Brooklyn, New York, became the first woman to lie in repose at the
Supreme Court Building, as well as the first woman to lay in state at
the Capitol; Avril Haines of New York City became the first woman to
serve as the Director of National Intelligence on January 21, 2021;
furthermore, on January 26, 2021, Janet Yellen of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn,
became the first woman to serve as the Secretary of Treasury; and

WHEREAS, New York has been the home of many extraordinary women who
have led society to a better future: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B.
Anthony led the campaign for women's suffrage; Sojourner Truth spoke out
for the abolition of slavery and for suffrage for all women; and

WHEREAS, Carrie Chapman Catt became the first president of the
League of Women Voters; Emma Willard opened the first endowed
institution for the education of women; Civil War surgeon Dr. Mary E.
Walker was the only woman ever awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor;
Harriet Tubman was an abolitionist who led slaves to freedom by way of
the Underground Railroad in the 19th Century; and

WHEREAS, Elizabeth Blackwell and Belva Lockwood were the first women
in the fields of medicine and law; pioneer birth control educator and
advocate Margaret Sanger established a research center in New York City;
and

WHEREAS, Emma Goldman founded the Free Speech League which led to
the American Civil Liberties Union; humanitarian Eleanor Roosevelt
served as United States Delegate to the United Nations; and

WHEREAS, New Yorker Edith Windsor fought to expand marriage equality
in the United States prior to the Marriage Equality Act of New York
which became law in 2011; and

WHEREAS, Civil rights lawyer and New York State Senator Constance
Baker Motley became the first Black woman to sit on the U.S. District
Court in New York, and there have been so many more known and unknown
women who championed rights and opportunity for all; and

WHEREAS, New York State has hosted many conventions, campaigns and
events of the Women's Rights Movement from the 1848 convention at Seneca

Falls to the 1999 Berkshire Conference of Women Historians, which was
held to improve the status of women in history and in the historical
professions; and

WHEREAS, Currently, 50% of statewide elected officials are women;
and

WHEREAS, 2024 marks the 104th Anniversary of the 19th amendment,
which guaranteed women the right to vote in the United States; and

WHEREAS, Today, 72 women serve in the New York State Legislature,
making up 48% of the seats, holding leadership positions in both houses
and bringing the diverse experiences of women into law and public
policy; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim March 2024, as Women's
History Month in the State of New York; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of New
York; and the Legislative Women's Caucus of New York State.