Tompkins County Legislature Issues Proclamation Naming 2017 the Year of the Woman in Tompkins County

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On January 3rd, 2017, the Tompkins County Legislature issued a proclamation celebrating the 100th anniversary of the passage in New York State of the Suffrage Act, which granted women the right to vote in local and state elections, and naming 2017 the Year of the Woman in Tompkins County. Tompkins County Historian Carol Kammen spoke before the Legislature on the significance of the anniversary and the proclamation.  Full text of the proclamation:

 

PROCLAMATION

 

                        WHEREAS, 2017 is the one hundredth anniversary of the passage in New York State of the Suffrage Act, granting women in New York the right to vote in local and state elections, and

                        WHEREAS, New York was the first eastern State to pass women's suffrage, an act that led to the passage of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution recognizing the right for women to vote across the nation, and

                        WHEREAS, true and full citizenship for women was not accomplished merely by achieving suffrage; for example women were not permitted to serve on juries in New York State until legislation passed in 1937, and

                        WHEREAS, not until federal Civil Rights legislation was passed in the 1960s were the full range of citizenship rights legally mandated to include women, and people of every and any race, and of any political suasion, as a right of that citizenship, and

                        WHEREAS, even today, women still must struggle for full and equal participation in the labor force and in political and economic life, and

                        WHEREAS, women have the right to make decisions about their lives to determine their physical and psychological well-being, yet they often suffer in a climate of sexual innuendo and/or physical harm, and

                        WHEREAS, the contributions of women to the progress of our nation often go unacknowledged, and

                        WHEREAS, if we wish to protect the rights of women in our democratic society, it is important to recognize, declare, and uphold those rights, and

                        WHEREAS, as the dignity of all persons must be protected, women have the right to live without fear for their physical or emotional safety and the right to pursue their own dreams in a society that recognizes their value,

                        NOW THEREFORE, I, Michael E. Lane, Chair of the Tompkins County Legislature, do hereby proclaim 2017 THE YEAR OF THE WOMAN IN TOMPKINS COUNTY

and urge our residents to recognize and celebrate the crucial role that women of all races and ethnic and political backgrounds have played in our county's history, as well as their important place throughout our County today.

                        IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the great seal of Tompkins County, State of New York, on this 3rd day of January, 2017.