HomeMy WebLinkAbout22-142 RESOLUTION NO. 2022-142
A RESOLUTION PROCLAIMING AUGUST 26, 2022, AS
"WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY" IN ST.LUCIE COUNTY,FLORIDA
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie County, Florida, has made the
following determinations:
1. August 26 is Women's Equality Day in the United States, a day to commemorate the 19th
Amendment to the Constitution that gave women the right to vote.
2. The fight for women's rights in the United States began on July 19, 1848, with the Seneca Falls
Convention when over 200 women gathered to discuss the issues and discrimination that women
faced based on their gender. They believed they deserved to be equal to men economically,
legally, socially, and representatively.
3. In 1869, Susan B. Anthony founded the National Woman Suffrage Association, but it wasn't
until 1886 that they got Congress to consider the Amendment to give women the right to vote,
which was denied. It took 34 more years before the Suffragettes got the Amendment to Congress
again, aided by some new States that had entered the Union and had equal rights for women in
their own Constitution. Women took to the streets to protest for their rights and in May 1919,
the majority of the U.S. Congress adopted the 19th Amendment, also known as the 'Susan B.
Anthony Amendment,' giving women the right to vote. The amendment only became official on
August 2, 1920, when Bainbridge Colby, the Secretary of State, signed the proclamation that gave
women in the United States the right to vote.
4. In 1973, the U.S. Congress designated August 26 as "Women's Equality Day." The date was
selected to commemorate the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution,
granting women the right to vote. This was the culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights
movement by women that had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world's first women's rights
convention, in Seneca Falls, New York. The observance of Women's Equality Day not only
commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, but also calls attention to women's
continuing efforts toward full equality.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie
County, Florida does hereby proclaim August 26, 2022, as"WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY" in St. Lucie
County, Florida and encourages all residents to show their support for all women by joining the
many organizations that are continuing the fight for equal rights for women.
PASSED AND DULY ADOPTED this 16th day of August 2022.
ATTEST: BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
ST LUCIE NTOLy1"-
* (,////et- QiniS • BY:
DEPUTY CLERK � �, _ >\ + IR
•-• APPROVED TO O CORRECTNESS:
�r
CO NTY ATT R EY