THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

INTRODUCED BY MANN, BISHOP, K. BOYLE, BRENNAN, BROOKS, BROWNLEE, BUXTON, CALTAGIRONE, CLYMER, P. COSTA, CREIGHTON, DALEY, DAVIS, DAY, DEASY, DELOZIER, DiGIROLAMO, DONATUCCI, EVERETT, FABRIZIO, FLECK, FRANKEL, FREEMAN, GEIST, GEORGE, GIBBONS, GILLEN, GINGRICH, GOODMAN, GRELL, GROVE, HAHN, HARHART, HENNESSEY, HESS, JOSEPHS, KAUFFMAN, W. KELLER, KIRKLAND, KORTZ, KULA, LONGIETTI, MAHONEY, MAJOR, MALONEY, MATZIE, MILLARD, MIRABITO, MOUL, MURT, M. O'BRIEN, O'NEILL, PARKER, PASHINSKI, PICKETT, PRESTON, READSHAW, ROCK, ROEBUCK, ROSS, SANTARSIERO, SANTONI, SCAVELLO, CULVER, SCHRODER, M. SMITH, SONNEY, SWANGER, THOMAS, TOEPEL, TOOHIL, VEREB, VULAKOVICH, WATERS, WATSON, WHEATLEY AND YOUNGBLOOD, MARCH 26, 2012

INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, MARCH 26, 2012  

A RESOLUTION

Recognizing the month of March 2012 as "National Women's History

Month" in Pennsylvania.

WHEREAS, After the American Revolution, the notion of

education as a safeguard for democracy created opportunities for

girls to gain only a basic education; and

WHEREAS, Pioneers of secondary education for young women

faced arguments from physicians and others who claimed either

that females were incapable of intellectual development equal to

men or that they would be harmed by striving for it; and

WHEREAS, Emma Hart Willard was born in 1787 into a

postrevolutionary America that did not value the schooling of

girls, but she became a pioneering reformer of women's education

and a strong advocate for education for young women; and

WHEREAS, Emma Hart Willard, in her 1819 Plan for Improving

Female Education, noted with derision the focus of women's

"education" on fostering the display of youth and beauty, and

she asserted that women are "the companions, not the satellites

of men" - "primary existences" whose education must prepare them

to be full partners in life's journey; and

WHEREAS, Charlotte Forten Grimké was born in Philadelphia in

1837 to an affluent and educated African-American family who

championed numerous civil rights organizations; and

WHEREAS, In the aftermath of the Civil War, Charlotte Forten

Grimké went to South Carolina to help educate liberated slaves;

and

WHEREAS, Charlotte Forten Grimké is remembered as a scholar,

teacher, abolitionist and crusader for education; and

WHEREAS, Annie Sullivan was born in 1866 to poor, illiterate,

Irish immigrant parents and was nearly blind from an untreated

eye infection; and

WHEREAS, Because of Annie Sullivan's disability, she was

routinely denied access to education, and her life was

transformed when she was allowed to go to school; and

WHEREAS, Annie Sullivan, having learned to overcome her

disability, successfully taught Helen Keller to transcend her

disabilities in an effort to learn and became a pioneer in the

education of students with disabilities; and

WHEREAS, While Harvard University, founded in 1636, was the

first college chartered in America, nearly two centuries would

pass before the founding of the first college to admit women,

Oberlin College, which was chartered in 1833; and

WHEREAS, Harvard University opened Radcliffe College as an

"annex" for women in 1879 rather than admit women to the men's

college; and

WHEREAS, Single-sex education remained the elite norm in the

United States until the early 1970s; and

WHEREAS, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, passed

in 1972 and implemented in 1977, prohibits gender discrimination

by federally funded institutions; and

WHEREAS, The enactment of Title IX is responsible for women's

fuller participation in all aspects of education, from

scholarships, to facilities, to classes formerly closed to

women; and

WHEREAS, The equal opportunity to learn, taken for granted by

most young women today, owes much to the enactment of Title IX;

and

WHEREAS, The commitment of women to educational equality

throughout the entirety of academia has resulted in the

ascension of women in politics and government; and

WHEREAS, Crystal Bird Fauset, who helped establish the

Swarthmore College Institute of Race Relations, became the first

African-American woman to be elected to the Pennsylvania House

of Representatives, at the time representing Philadelphia's 18th

Legislative District; and

WHEREAS, Currently, 72 women hold statewide executive offices

nationwide; and

WHEREAS, Currently, 1,745 women hold seats in state

legislatures nationwide; and

WHEREAS, The year 2012 marks the 32nd anniversary of the

National Women's History Project; and

WHEREAS, The year 2012 also marks the 40th anniversary of the

enactment of Title IX; and

WHEREAS, The National Women's History Project began with a

proclamation by President Jimmy Carter that declared the week of

March 8, 1980, as the first "National Women's History Week"; and

WHEREAS, The recognition of March as "Women's History Month"

highlights the numerous contributions of women across this

Commonwealth and our nation who helped create educational

equality and a more fair and just society for all people;

therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize March

2012 as "National Women's History Month" in Pennsylvania and

invite the women, men and children of this Commonwealth to

continue to explore the many roles women played and continue to

play to secure educational equality for all, to explore the

contributions of women to help empower the entire Commonwealth

and the nation and to celebrate "National Women's History Month"

in 2012 with the theme of "Women's Education – Women's

Empowerment."