Senate Resolution No. 1998

BY: Senator STEWART-COUSINS

CONGRATULATING the 2024 New York State Senate's
Historical Women of Distinction

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to acknowledge and
celebrate individuals and events of historic significance which add
vitality, sensitivity, understanding and inspiration to the diversity
and value of the people of this great Empire State; and

WHEREAS, Women of every economic, ethnic and religious background
have made significant contributions that are reflected in our cultural,
social, educational, industrial and economic diversity, and have
contributed in many ways, including as writers, educators, scientists,
heads of state, politicians, civil rights crusaders, artists,
entertainers, businesswomen, military personnel, aviators,
entrepreneurs, philanthropists, health professionals, engineers,
religious leaders, judges, lawyers, law enforcement personnel, athletes,
mothers, nurturers, and the building blocks of our communities; and

WHEREAS, It is the purpose of this Legislative Body to induct five
new honorees for the year 2024: nurse officer and Rear Admiral, Faye
Glenn Abdellah (1919-2017); librarian and educator, Pura Belpre'
(1899-1982); social activist, Susan Wu Rathbone (1921-2019); singer and
composer, Joanne Lynn Shenandoah (1957-2021); organic chemist, Giuliana
Tesoro (1921-2002); and

WHEREAS, Women who have become part of New York's lasting heritage
by fighting against stereotypes, prejudice and seemingly insurmountable
obstacles include: Sojourner Truth (1797- 1883), former slave and famous
activist; Harriet Tubman (1820-1913), best-known "conductor" of the
Underground Railroad and promoter of Black education and women's rights;
suffragettes Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
(1815-1902); world-renowned folk artist Grandma Moses (1860-1961); famed
reporter Nellie Bly (1867-1922); Sybil Ludington (1761-1839), known as
the "female Paul Revere"; Barbara McClintock (1901-1992), Nobel
Prize-winning genetic scientist; and "First Lady of the World," Eleanor
Roosevelt (1884-1962); and

WHEREAS, New York State has been, and continues to be, the home to
many distinguished women who have made their mark in history as the
first in their field to succeed; representative of these "firsts" are
contributions by women such as: Lady Deborah Moody (1586-1659), first
woman grantee for land ownership in the New World; Elizabeth Blackwell
(1821-1910), first female physician; America's first trained nurse,
Linda Richards (1841-1930); Emma Willard (1787-1870), founder of the
first endowed institution of education for women; hairdressing
entrepreneur, Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919), Harlem leader and first
self-made female millionaire in the U.S.; Buffalonian Louise Blanchard
Bethune (1856-1913), first professional female architect in the Nation;
Lucille Ball (1911-1989), actor and president of Desilu Productions, the
first woman to lead a major Hollywood production company; Katharine
Bement Davis (1860-1935), New York City Correction Commissioner, first
woman to head a major City agency; Winifred Edgerton Merrill
(1862-1951), the first American woman to receive a Ph.D. in Mathematics;

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker (1832-1919), the first and only woman to be
presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor; and Belva Lockwood
(1830-1917), the first woman to practice law before the United States
Supreme Court; and

WHEREAS, This Legislative Body recognizes that New York State is the
home to countless women who are strong and colorful threads, vital to
the fabric of our rich heritage, who have contributed, and continue to
add to the advancement of our culture through their traditional and
non-traditional roles in society; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the induction of five new inductees into the New York State
Senate's Historical Women of Distinction 2024 exhibit; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to the National Women's Hall of Fame and the New York State
Division for Women.