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Agenda Item No. 5(B) EL CERRITO CITY COUNCIL PROCLAMATION Designating the Month of March as “Women’s History Month” WHEREAS, Women of every race, class, and ethnic background have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our Nation and the City of El Cerrito in countless recorded and unrecorded ways; and WHEREAS, Women have played and continued to play a critical economic, cultural, and social role in every sphere of the life of the Nation and the City of El Cerrito by constituting a significant portion of the labor force working inside and outside the home; and WHEREAS, Women have played a unique role throughout the history by providing the majority of the volunteer labor force; and WHEREAS, Women were particularly important in the establishment of early charitable, philanthropic, and cultural institutions in the Nation and throughout the Bay Area. Women have been leaders, not only in securing their own rights of suffrage and equal opportunity, but also in the abolitionist movement, the emancipation movement, the industrial labor movement, the civil rights movement, and other movements, especially the peace movement, which create a more fair and just society for all; and WHEREAS, locally, women have played a key role in the City’s history as leaders in the community, in our schools universities and at City Hall, including opening doors for the appointment of women as Planning Commissioners as early as 1928, urging support for disarmament proposals in 1961, and celebrating the recognition of local appointments to West County, Contra Costa County, and Assembly District 15 Woman of the Year award ceremonies and the 100th anniversary of the Women’s Suffragist Movement by co-sponsoring a showing of Iron Jawed Angels in 2011. NOW THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of El Cerrito does hereby designate March 2014 as Women’s History Month in the City of El Cerrito and encourages residents to reflect on, honor and celebrate the history, courage, commitment, accomplishments and contributions of women, not only in El Cerrito but throughout America. Dated: March 4, 2014 Janet Abelson, Mayor