This Women’s History Month is worth celebrating

This year, 2021, it seems especially important to make mention that March is Women’s History Month. After all, in 2021, the United States marked the very first time in its 244-year history that a woman — a woman of color and of Asian descent — was elected to serve as vice-president, the second-highest ranking office in all the land. That is a remarkable achievement.

In 2020, we’ve seen a record-breaking number of women elected to both the U.S. Congress and the New York State Legislature. 

In fact, as of 2020, 126 women (105 of them Democrat and 21 of them Republican) held seats in Congress, making up 23.6% of the 535 members; 25 women (25%) serve in the Senate, and 101 women (23.2%) serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University in nearby New Jersey. An additional four women who are non-voting delegates (two Democrats and two Republicans) also represent American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the House, according to CAWP. 

Even locally, we have strong and smart women running a number of our Harlem Valley towns and villages as mayors and town supervisors, including Millerton Mayor Debbie Middlebrook, Amenia town Supervisor Victoria Perotti and Pine Plains town Supervisor Darrah Cloud, all doing a commendable job, getting re-elected by their constituents year after year (not to mention the numerous town councilwomen and village trustees who do such great jobs helping govern our communities). 

Likewise, many of our state and county lawmakers, including State Sen. Sue Serino (R-41), State Assemblymember Didi Barrett (D-106) and Dutchess County Legislator Deirdre A. Houston (R-25) also have been getting the seal of approval from voters at the ballot box, each getting re-elected for multiple terms.

Then there’s Kathy Hochul, our state’s lieutenant governor since 2015 — the highest-ranking female elected official in New York. She previously served as the U.S. representative for the 26th congressional district in the Buffalo region from 2011 to 2013. Chair of the New York State Women’s Suffrage 100th Anniversary Commemoration Commission, she’s passionate about women’s rights.

To commemorate Women’s History Month, Barrett has just released, “Women’s History in the Hudson Valley: Ten Stories from Columbia and Dutchess Counties.” The annual booklet shares the accounts of 10 women who lived over the past three centuries and made a profound impact on the region, the state, the country or the world. It’s being distributed in collaboration with the Mid-Hudson Library System; for more on how to access the booklet, go to www.nyassembly.gov/Barrett. 

It’s Barrett’s eighth booklet, all written to inform young girls and boys, as well as adults, of past contributions made by women that one may not find in traditional history books. Although often overlooked, women have accomplished numerous important feats throughout history — both independently and in partnership with their male counterparts. It is all of us — men and women alike — who have built our state and our nation into what it is today. This March, though, we are focusing on women’s accomplishments.

“It’s important to remember that we wouldn’t be where we are today without the incredible women who came before us, who shattered glass ceilings and paved the way for a more equitable future,” stated Barrett.

We agree, and applaud all the women who work so hard, every day, regardless of whether they are working at the Statehouse or in their house, whether they are building a corporate empire or raising a family. The work women do contributes to the stability and the productivity of our nation. Women add to our economy, to our country’s intellectual might and to our industrial output. Women can be both nurturers and providers. 

A  woman is capable of being and doing many things, thanks to the support and encouragement of those around her. A woman has even taken her first step into the White House — where that next step leads is anyone’s guess.