Phoenix, Arizona - Governor Doug Ducey issued a proclamation recognizing March as Women’s History Month and March 8 as International Women’s Day.
In Governor Ducey’s State of the State address this year, he highlighted the accomplishments of women leaders and trailblazers that call Arizona home.
Including:
- Governor Rose Mofford, Arizona’s first female governor;
- Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female appointed to the Supreme Court;
- Dr. Maria Harper-Marinick, chancellor of the Maricopa County Community College District – one of the largest community college systems in the nation;
- Jen Welter, the first female NFL coach and the first female coach for the Arizona Cardinals;
- Police Chief Jeri Williams, police chief of the Phoenix Police Department;
- Fire Chief Kara Kalkbrenner, fire chief of the Phoenix Fire Department;
- Arizona having the highest percentage of female legislators of any state in the nation this year; and
- Arizona voted women into every single statewide elected executive position two decades ago.
View video of Governor Ducey honoring these achievements
“There’s no lack of powerful and impressive women role models for the young people of our state to look up to,” said Governor Ducey. “Women have played an incredibly important role in our nation’s history and this March we honor and celebrate these examples of leadership, courage, and determination.”
Text of the proclamation can be viewed below.
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WHEREAS, women in Arizona’s history, whether American Indian, pioneers, life-long Arizonans, migrants from other states or immigrants, have transformed the nation as leaders in a wide range of fields including elected and appointed public service, military service, business, education, medicine, the arts, philanthropy and charitable service; and
WHEREAS, among “the firsts” from Arizona is the first woman United States Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor; first woman state Chief Justice in United States history, Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorna Lockwood; one of the first women in the United States elected to a state legislature, Representative Rachel Emma Allen Berry; and
WHEREAS, women from across the United States have contributed to the great achievements and prosperity of our country and these examples of leadership, courage and determination should be honored and recognized; and
WHEREAS, Women’s History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 when Congress passed legislation which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982 as “Women’s History Week.” In 1987 Congress passed a law which designated the month of March 1987 as “Women’s History Month.” Since 1995, every President has issued annual proclamations designating the month of March as “Women’s History Month;” and
WHEREAS, March 8th marks International Women’s Day on which women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic, or political. International Women’s Day first emerged from the activities of labor movements, and the first National Women’s Day was observed in the United States on February 28, 1909.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Douglas A. Ducey, Governor of the State of Arizona, do hereby proclaim March 2018 as
WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
and March 8, 2018, as
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of the State of Arizona
GOVERNOR
DONE at the Capitol in Phoenix on this first day of March in the year Two Thousand and Eighteen and of the Independence of the United States of America the Two Hundred and Forty-Second.
ATTEST:
SECRETARY OF STATE