| National Women's History Museum |
On October 14, 2009, the House of Representatives passed the National
Women’s History Museum Act, legislation I have championed for the last
10 years. If this bill becomes law, it will create a National Women’s
History Museum across from the National Mall.
Women’s history is largely missing from textbooks, memorials, museum
exhibits and many other venues. In contrast, men have hundreds of
years of written history available to reflect upon and use for
inspiration. Of the 210 statues in the United States Capitol, only ten
are of female leaders. Less than five percent of the 2,400 national
historic landmarks chronicle women's achievement and a recent survey of
18 history textbooks found that only 10% of the individuals identified
in the text were women.
The National Women’s History Museum Act, H.R. 1700, directs the General Services
Administration (GSA) to house a National Women’s History Museum in one
of their properties in Washington, DC. NWHM will be built and
maintained with private funds. NWHM must pay fair market value for the
property and reasonable timeframes are included for the transfer of the
property and for construction to begin.
The museums and memorials in our nation’s Capitol demonstrate what we
value. We have museums dedicated to flight, postage stamps, law
enforcement and many other important people and issues of interest, but
not to women. This bill would provide women, comprising 53% of our
population, a long overdue home on our National Mall to honor their
many contributions that are the very fabric of our country.
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