Title
Honoring Arline Jolles Lotman, Esq. on the Thirtieth Anniversary of Her Accomplishments as the First Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Commission on the Status of Women
Body
WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Commission on the Status of Women (herein referred to as the "Commission") was established in 1972 by Executive Order of Governor Milton J. Shapp and was charged with "the responsibility of developing and implementing programs to make sure that all women in Pennsylvania are able to participate equally in the economic, educational, judicial and governmental life of the Commonwealth”; and
WHEREAS, Arline Jolles Lotman was appointed the first Executive Director of the Commission by Governor Shapp to help secure women's legal rights in Pennsylvania pursuant to the Equal Rights Amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution which provides that: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania because of the sex of the individual”; and
WHEREAS, Some of the major accomplishments of the Commission during Arline Lotman's leadership as Executive Director include: insuring equal access to credit in Pennsylvania through the passage of new banking regulations that enabled women to obtain a mortgage in their own name based on their own creditworthiness; undertaking the first ever investigation of health care discrimination against women and minority women; securing the landmark end to newspapers' help wanted ads which segregated job opportunities by gender; establishing a Pennsylvania Department of Education directive which ended sex discrimination in all public schools in the Commonwealth in classes, activities, sports, housing and staffing; and, advocating for the ratification of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution; and
WHEREAS, In her many roles as wife, mother, lawyer, teacher, community activist, political participant and public policy author, Arline Lotman is an inspiration to the women of Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, In her constant fight for civil rights for all people she continues to serve as a dedicated attorney working to prohibit sex discrimination in employment, public accommodations and education, and continues to promote positive changes in policies and laws; now therefore
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby honor Arline Jolles Lotman, Esq. on the thirtieth anniversary of her accomplishments as the first Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Commission on the Status of Women.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Arline Jolles Lotman as a symbol of this legislative body's sincere appreciation for her distinguished achievements to insure equality for women.
End