The Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday proclaimed March as Women’s History Month in Lawrence … apparently for the first time.
Kathy Rose-Mockry, who served for 20 years as director of the Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity at the University of Kansas, addressed the commission ahead of the proclamation.
Rose-Mockry said she was honored to receive the city’s first proclamation celebrating Women’s History Month, which started as a national celebration in 1981. A quick search of Lawrence City Commission agenda archives indeed reveals no previous proclamations.
Rose-Mockry told commissioners that she had found records on city leadership going back to 1969. She said there have been five female mayors, two of whom have served two terms. Since 2018, half of the commissioners have been women, she said, and since 1969, about 77% of the commissions have included at least one woman.
“So that’s a pretty good record. You all can be proud,” she said. “But it’s also important to recognize women who have not been in the public eye, but who have had an influence.”
Rose-Mockry also mentioned persistent economic disparities women face. She said recent studies indicate that women working full time are paid 84 cents for every dollar a man makes. The disparity is even worse for women of color — African American women are paid 67 cents for every dollar paid to white men, and Latina women and Native American women are paid just 57 cents to the dollar.
According to Pew Research Center, in 2019, Lawrence girls and women ages 16 and up earned 76% of what men their ages earned.
“Some challenging decisions are coming forward in our community as we grow and evolve,” Rose-Mockry said. “Women’s voices and perspectives must be equally included in the discussion. This proclamation demonstrates this commission’s commitment to ensuring that this happens.”
Mayor Lisa Larsen — one of those two-term female mayors — read the proclamation aloud:
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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