2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
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2025 SENATE RESOLUTION 2
March 21, 2025 - Introduced by Senators HESSELBEIN, CARPENTER, DASSLER-
ALFHEIM, DRAKE, HABUSH SINYKIN, L. JOHNSON, KEYESKI, LARSON, PFAFF,
RATCLIFF, ROYS, SMITH, SPREITZER, WALL and WIRCH. Referred to Committee
on Senate Organization.
***AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE***
Relating to: proclaiming March 2025 and March 2026 as Women [s History
Months.
Whereas, American women of every race, class, and ethnic background have
made historic contributions to our nation in countless recorded and unrecorded
ways; and
Whereas, the Wisconsin Legislature granted property rights to married
women in 1850; and
Whereas, in 1869, the first women graduated from the University of
Wisconsin. That same year, the Wisconsin Legislature passed a law allowing
women to run for school boards and other elective school offices, though they could
not vote in school board elections until 1884; and
Whereas, in the campaign for Women[s Suffrage, Wisconsin produced notable
suffragists such as Olympia Brown of Racine, Clara Bewick Colby of Madison,
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Carrie Chapman Catt of Ripon, Jessie Jack Hooper of Oshkosh, Ada James of
Richland Center, and Belle Case La Follette of Baraboo; and
Whereas, Wisconsin is part of the original 36 states to ratify the 19th
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which provides, XThe right of citizens of the
United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any
State on account of sex,Y and holds the distinction of being the first state to ratify,
on June 10, 1919, and formally certify its ratification papers in Washington, D.C.;
and
Whereas, in July 1921, after decades of campaigning by women for voting and
other rights, Wisconsin passed the nation[s first women[s equal rights law,
declaring XWomen shall have the same rights and privileges under the law as men,Y
including Xholding officeY—affirming women[s right to hold any public office; and
Whereas, a 1923 survey of Wisconsin cities and villages by the University of
Wisconsin[s Municipal Information Bureau identified more than 400 women in
public office, of whom approximately half sat on school and library boards and who
also included Wisconsin[s first female mayor, county supervisor, sheriff, nine
alderwomen, 12 village trustees, and dozens of clerks and treasurers; and
Whereas, in 1925, three women, Representatives Mildred Barber of Wausau,
Hellen Brooks of Coloma, and Helen Thompson of Park Falls, were the first female
assembly representatives to be elected to the Wisconsin Legislature; and
Whereas, Wisconsin amended its own constitution in 1934 to include women[s
suffrage; and
Whereas, in 1983, the Wisconsin Women[s Council became a permanent state
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agency governed by a bipartisan board appointed by the governor and legislative
leaders; and
Whereas, in 2025, a total of 44 women took their seats in the state assembly
and senate, the most ever in Wisconsin history; and
Whereas, the role of American women continues to evolve, and their positive
contributions to our culture, society, and government continue to grow and inspire
future generations; and
Whereas, throughout the history of the United States, whether in their homes,
in their workplaces, in schools, in the community, in the courts, or during wartime,
women have fought for themselves, their families, and all people of the United
States; and
Whereas, since the American Revolution, women have been vital to the
mission of the armed forces, with about 30,000 women veterans from Wisconsin
representing every branch of service; and
Whereas, American women have played and continue to play a critical
economic, cultural, and social role in every sphere of life and constitute a significant
portion of the labor force working inside and outside the home, with women now
representing approximately half of the workforce of the United States and owning
more than 12.4 million businesses; and
Whereas, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, women are at the helm of
about 18 percent of all employer firms located in Wisconsin; and
Whereas, the women of Wisconsin have been and continue to be leaders in the
forefront of international affairs, social change efforts, education, journalism,
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literature, art, film, technology, math, science, athletics, and other fields including
Golda Meir, who grew up in Milwaukee and was the Prime Minister of Israel from
1969 to 1974; Nobel Peace Prize winner and Liberian president Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf, who attended school in Madison and was the first female head of state of
any African country; Vel Phillips, a woman of many firsts, was the first Black
woman to graduate from the University of Wisconsin Law School, the first woman
alder elected to the Common Council of Milwaukee, the first woman judge in
Milwaukee County, the first African American to serve in Wisconsin[s judiciary,
and the first woman elected as Wisconsin[s secretary of state; Dickey Chapelle was
the first female American war correspondent to parachute with American troops
and the first killed covering combat; Electa XWuhwehweeheemeewY Quinney was
Wisconsin[s first public schoolteacher; Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the XLittle
HouseY book series, hailed from Pepin; Lorraine Hansberry, playwright for A
Raisin in the Sun was the first Black woman to have a play produced on Broadway;
Georgia O[Keeffe of Sun Prairie was a major American artist of the 20th century
who developed a unique approach to abstract painting that reflected the landscapes
around her; and Bonnie Blair is a world record-holding speed skater, a six-time
Olympic medalist, and one of the most decorated women in Winter Olympic history;
and
Whereas, despite the advancements of women in the United States, much
remains to be done to ensure that women realize their full potential as equal
members of society in the United States; and
Whereas, National Women[s History Month recognizes and spreads awareness
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of the importance of women in the history of Wisconsin and the United States; now,
therefore, be it
Resolved by the senate, That March 2025 and March 2026 shall be
designated as Women[s History Months.
(END)
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