PROCLAMATION 7071—MAR. 2, 1998
112 STAT. 3727
en's history in America has been the story of the struggle of women
of all racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds to be included in that
simple but powerful statement. It is the story as well of how, in striving to reach their own great potential, women have strengthened and
enriched our Nation.
In every era of American history, women have braved enormous challenges to change our world for the better. Women of faith in the early
17th century dared a dangerous journey and the unknown wilderness
to seek freedom of conscience in a new land. As our Nation struggled
for independence and to establish a new, more enlightened form of
government, women like Esther DeBerdt Reed and Sarah Franklin
Bache supplied food, clothes, and funds for Washington's soldiers.
Freedom fighters like Sojovimer Truth and Harriet Tubman led hundreds of enslaved men and women to liberty through the Underground
Railroad, and social reformers like Gertrude Bonnin advanced the
himian rights of American Indians. Suffragists like Susan B. Anthony,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Luisa Capetillo challenged the conventions of their times and sought to secure for women one of the most
basic rights within our democracy.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the women's rights movement in America and its immeasurable contributions to our Nation's
promise of justice and equality for all. The visionary women and men
who gathered in Seneca Falls, New York, in July of 1848 for the first
Women's Rights Convention in history gave voice so powerfully to
women's aspirations for inclusion and empowerment that their vision
continues to shape our world today.
Once disenfranchised, American women now serve at the highest levels of government, as Justices of the Supreme Court and in increasing
numbers in the Cabinet and the United States Congress. Once denied
the resoiu'ces and opportunities to play organized sports, American
women made sporting history this year by winning the first-ever Olympic Gold Medal in women's ice hockey. Wbiflen are cracking the glass
ceilings of corporate management to lead Ipme of our country's most
prominent businesses. As parents and par^^rs, entrepreneurs and artists, politicians and scientists, women are K^elpi^g to build an America
in which all citizens, regardless of gender, are free to live out their
dreams.
Thanks to the efforts of women leaders, little girls across America
today know far fewer limits than did their mothers and grandmothers.
But there still remains work to be done to create a more just America,
and we must rededicate ourselves to ending the discrimination that
women still face. We must continue our efforts to help women succeed
at work and at home, to be free from violent crime, and to enjoy quality health care. In doing so, we will confirm our conviction that "We,
the people" includes us all.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United
States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March
1998 as Women's History Month. I encourage all Americans to observe
this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities, and
to remember throughout the year the many voices and stories of courageous women who have made our Nation strong.
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