March is National Women's History Month, and Somerset County Freeholders accepted a proclamation marking the occasion on March 8, 2016.
SOMERVILLE - The Somerset County Freeholders recently proclaimed March as National Women's History Month.
This year's theme is, "Working to Form a More Perfect Union: Honoring Women in Public Service and Government," according to a news release.
Members of the Somerset County Commission on the Status of Women accepted the proclamation from Freeholder Director and commission liaison Patricia Walsh at the board's March 8 meeting.
The commission hosted its annual Outstanding Women in Somerset County Awards dinner at The Imperia in Franklin, honoring 10 county residents as well as guest speaker Katie Meyler, founder of More Than Me.
According to the proclamation, American women of every race, class and ethnic background helped found the nation in countless recorded and unrecorded ways as servants, slaves, nurses, nuns, homemakers, industrial workers, teachers, reformers, soldiers and pioneers, and served as early leaders in the forefront of every major progressive social change movement.
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American women have played and continue to play a critical economic, cultural and social role in every sphere of our nation's life by constituting a significant portion of the labor force working in and outside of the home.
They have played a unique role throughout our history by providing the majority of the nation's volunteer labor force and have been particularly important in the establishment of early charitable, philanthropic and cultural institutions in the country.
This year's theme focuses on women who have shaped history and the future through public service and government leadership, though often overlooked and undervalued despite influencing public policy, championing basic human rights, and ensuring access and equal opportunity for all, thereby establishing a stronger and more democratic country.