[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 9 (Monday, March 5, 2001)]
[Pages 385-386]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7411--Women's History Month, 2001

 March 1, 2001

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    In 1845, journalist and author Margaret Fuller laid out her hope for 
the future of this Nation's women: ``We would have every arbitrary 
barrier thrown down. We would have every path laid open to women as 
freely as to men. If you ask me what offices they may fill, I reply--
any, I do not care what case you put; let them be sea captains, if you 
will.''
    More than 150 years later, we are closer than ever to realizing 
Margaret Fuller's dream. Women account for nearly half of all workers. 
Today, women are ``captains'' of their own destinies, and they will 
continue to help shape our Nation's future. Women hold 74 seats in the 
United States Congress, more than at any time in our country's history, 
and women own more than 9 million businesses employing more than 27.5 
million workers. Through their tireless service on a daily basis, the 
women of our Nation have woven the fabric of families and communities. 
They contribute immeasurably through faith-based and community 
organizations.
    Our Nation's women could not be where they are--nor could our 
country be where it is--without the strength and courage, wisdom and 
persistence of those who preceded them. America has been blessed with 
women like Harriet Beecher Stowe, Susan B. Anthony, and Jane Addams, all 
of whom refused to accept oppression as inevitable. Female political 
leaders including Margaret Chase Smith and Eleanor Roosevelt forever 
changed the face of American government. Women have played a vital role 
in educating our Nation: Mary Lyon, Dorothea Dix, Elizabeth Blackwell, 
and Mary McLeod Bethune all fought history and stereotypes to become 
scholars in their own right and pass their knowledge to subsequent 
generations. Similarly, female authors such as Anne Bradstreet, Emily 
Dickinson, Pearl Buck, and Zora Neale Hurston represent only a small

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sample of the many women who have contributed to the American literary 
canon.
    Our Nation boasts a rich history of women whose heroic achievements 
speak to the sense of excellence, potential, and patriotism shared by 
all Americans. Anna Warner Bailey's and Clara Barton's courage in war 
has inspired generations of men and women called upon to fight for 
America. The fortitude of spirit displayed by Helen Keller, Amelia 
Earhart, and Wilma Rudolph has made them role models both here and 
abroad. Finally, from the sacrifice of mothers and grandmothers to the 
dedication of successful women in business, government, and charitable 
work, the legacy of women in America gives all young people in this 
country the impetus to dream without limits.
     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 2001 as 
``Women's History Month.'' I call upon all the people of the United 
States to observe this month with appropriate ceremonies and activities 
and to remember their contributions throughout the year.
     In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of 
March, in the year of our Lord two thousand one, and of the Independence 
of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-fifth.
                                                George W. Bush

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:47 a.m., March 5, 
2001]

Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on March 2, and it will be published in the Federal Register 
on March 6.