Women's History Month, 2002

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Part V

The President

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Proclamation 7530--Women's History Month, 2002

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7530 of March 6, 2002

Women's History Month, 2002

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Women's History Month provides our country the
privilege of honoring the countless contributions that
American women have made throughout our history. These
contributions have enriched our culture, strengthened
our Nation, and furthered the Founders' vision for a
free and just Republic that provides opportunity and
safety at home and is an influence for peace around the
world.

Since its beginnings, our land has been blessed by
noteworthy women who played defining roles in shaping
our Nation. Sakajawea was a Native American woman who
befriended the explorers, Meriwether Lewis and William
Clark, 150 years ago as they crossed the great
Northwest. She helped Lewis and Clark's expedition
complete the first successful overland transcontinental
journey. Lucretia Mott courageously wrote and spoke
against slavery and the lack of equal rights for women,
helping America recognize the inherent wrong in the
institutional subjugation of others and the need to
strive for equality, freedom, and justice for all.
Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman in America
awarded a medical degree, and she dedicated her
pioneering efforts as a physician to helping others.

Helen Keller overcame debilitating physical
disabilities, showing us the power of a determined
human spirit. And Clara Barton developed a vision for
helping others through her service to the wounded
during the Civil War; and she realized that vision by
founding the American Red Cross after the war, an
organization that has since become renowned for its
effectiveness in helping those who suffer or are in
need. Recently, the Red Cross reached out to aid Afghan
women traumatized by the repressive rule of the
intolerant Taliban regime, which for years had
mercilessly oppressed Afghanistan and Afghan women in
particular. Today, thousands of American women are
furthering the cause of freedom through service in
government, the military, and other organizations, as
we seek to defeat terrorism and bring justice to those
responsible for the September 11 attacks.

The history of American women is an expansive story of
outstanding individuals who sacrificed much and worked
hard in pursuit of a better world, where peace,
dignity, and opportunity can reign. The spirit of
loving determination that shaped these pursuits
continues to serve as an example to those who seek to
better our Nation. American women of strength, vision,
and character have long influenced our country by
contributing their time, efforts, and wisdom in vastly
diverse ways to improve and enhance our government and
communities, our schools and religious institutions,
our businesses and the military, and the arts and
sciences. Women also have fundamentally shaped our
civilization in the care and nurturing of families.
Today, women in contemporary America are furthering the
Founders' vision by working to advance freedom,
increase equality, and administer justice in every
corner of our land, through their everyday work in
schoolrooms, boardrooms, courtrooms, homes, and
communities.

As President, I am proud to recognize the many
contributions American women have made to help make our
Nation free, strong, and a force for peace and justice
around the world. On this observance of Women's History

Month, I encourage every American to learn more about
these important contributions, and to celebrate their
noble legacies as we work to build a brighter future
for our Nation and for all of the world's people.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim March 2002 as Women's
History Month. I call upon all the people of the United
States to observe this month with appropriate programs,
ceremonies, and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord two
thousand two, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and twenty-sixth.

(Presidential Sig.)B