; Whereas, in 1932, Hattie Caraway of Arkansas was the first woman elected to the Senate; Whereas, in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated the first female Cabinet Secretary, Francis Perkins, who served as Secretary of Labor; Whereas, in 1946, Felicita Mendez fought against discrimination and segregation in the California public education system, winning the landmark case Mendez, et al. v. Westminster School District of Orange County, which paved the way for the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision in 1954; Whereas, as recently as the 1970s, women’s history was rarely included in the kindergarten through grade 12 curriculum and was not part of public awareness; Whereas the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women initiated a Women’s History Week celebration in 1978 centered around International Women’s History Day, which is celebrated on March 8; Whereas, in 1980, the National Women’s History Project (known as the National Women’s History Alliance) was founded in Sonoma County, California, to broadcast women’s historical achievements; Whereas, in 1981, responding to the growing popularity of women’s history celebrations, Congress passed a resolution making Women’s History Week a national observance; Whereas, during this time, thousands of schools and communities joined in the commemoration of National Women’s History Week, with support and encouragement from Governors, city councils, school boards, State legislatures, and Congress; Whereas, in 1987, Congress was petitioned to expand the national celebration to include the entire month of March; Whereas educators, workplace program planners, parents, and community organizations, in thousands of communities in the United States, have turned National Women’s History Month into a major local learning experience and celebration; Whereas the popularity of women’s history celebrations has sparked a new interest in uncovering the important history of women’s suffrage and the fight for equal rights