123STA T . 3 6 1 7PROCL A M AT I O N8 3 5 1 — MAR. 3 , 2 0 0 9INW I T N ES SW H E R E OF, I have he r e untos et my han d th i sse c ond day o fM arch, in the year of our L ord t w o thousand nine, and of the Inde -p endence of the U nited States of A merica the two hundred and thirty- third .B ARA CK OBAMA Proclam a ti o n8351 o fM arc h 3 ,20 0 9Women’sHi s t o ryM ont h,20 0 9BythePr e sid e n t of the U nited S t a tes of Am eri c a A Proc l amation With passion and coura g e, women have taught us that when we b and together to advocate for our highest idea l s, we can advance our com- mon well-being and strengthen the fabric of our Nation. Each year dur- ing Women ’ s History Month, we remember and celebrate women from all wal k s of life who have shaped this great Nation. This year, in ac- cordance with the theme, ‘ ‘Women Taking the Lead to Save our P lan- et,’’ we pay particular tribute to the efforts of women in preserving and protecting the environment for present and future generations. Ellen Swallow Richards is known to have been the first woman in the United States to be accepted at a scientific school. She graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1873 and went on to be- come a prominent chemist. In 1887, she conducted a survey of water q uality in Massachusetts. This study, the first of its kind in America, led to the Nation’s first state water-quality standards. Women have also taken the lead throughout our history in preserving our natural environment. In 1 90 0, Maria Sanford led the Minnesota Federation of Women’s G roups in their efforts to protect forestland near the Mississippi River, which eventually became the Chippewa Na- tional Forest, the first Congressionally mandated national forest. Mar- j ory Stoneman D ouglas dedicated her life to protecting and restoring the Florida Everglades. Her book, T he Ev er g lades
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ivers of G rass, pub- lished in 19 4 7, led to the preservation of the Everglades as a National Park. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993. Rachel Carson brought even greater attention to the environment by e x - posing the dangers of certain pesticides to the environment and to human health. Her landmark 19 62 book, Silent S p ring, was fiercely critici z ed for its unconventional perspective. As early as 1963, how- ever, President Kennedy acknowledged its importance and appointed a panel to investigate the book’s findings. Silent Spring has emerged as a seminal work in environmental studies. Carson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 1980. Grace Thorpe, another leading environmental advocate, also connected environmental protection with human well-being by emphasizing the vulnerability of certain populations to environmental hazards. In 1992, she launched a successful campaign to organize Native Americans to oppose the storage of nuclear waste on their reservations, which she said contradicted Native American principles of stewardship of the
