Freeholder helps celebrate Women's History Month

Lillian Burry

COLTS NECK - Monmouth County Freeholder Lillian G. Burry attributes her success in business and politics to the generations of American women who have come before her.

"I've been able to achieve my goals because I stand on the shoulders of American women who have helped me shape my life," she said during a celebration of Women's History Month, held March 29 in the chapel at Naval Weapons Station Earle. "As we honor Women's History Month, we pay homage to the women who came before us and we hold the torch high for all those who will follow."

Burry, deputy director of the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders, was the keynote speaker in the celebration, "Generations of Women Moving History Forward."

Capt. Gary A. Maynard, Earle's commanding officer, spoke about the accomplishments of Edith Wilson and Eleanor Roosevelt, women who served in the shadows of presidents. He also noted the achievements by Marie Curie, Nobel Prize-winning scientist, Mildred McAfee, the first woman commissioned as a U.S. Naval officer, and Rear Adm. Grace Hopper, a pioneer in computer science.

In 1978, the public celebration of women's history began as "Women's History Week" and included March 8, International Women's Day. In 1981, a joint congressional resolution proclaimed a national Women's History Week, which in 1987 was expanded to include the entire month of March, according to a press release from the Monmouth County office of public information.

Burry is the owner and broker of record at Colts Neck Realty. She was the first woman elected to Matawan's governing body, the first woman elected to serve Colts Neck as a township committeewoman, deputy mayor and mayor, and among her many other achievements was a founding member of a chapter of the League of Women Voters.

"Until the 1960s, women rarely held leadership positions and had only a marginal influence on politics," Burry said. "But the events of the 1960s changed all that with a growing historical emphasis on the sociological changes that were occurring, specifically with regard to women's roles in society."

The National Suffrage Movement brought dynamic women together to advocate for the right to vote, improved wages, working and living conditions.

In 1963, the President's Commission on the Status of Women, with Eleanor Roosevelt as its chair, documented discrimination against women in the workplace and made recommendations for improvement in fair hiring practices, paid maternity leave and affordable child care.

A significant factor contributing to the emergence of women's history was the women's movement of the 1960s, which caused women to question the lack of mention in traditional history text, and the increasing feminist charges of economic and political discrimination.

Women's history also was part of a larger movement that transformed the study of history in the United States. Prior to the 1970s, history traditionally meant a political history - a chronicle of the key political events and of the leaders, primarily men, who influenced them. But by the 1970s a new social history began emerging and emphasis shifted to a broader spectrum of American life, including the history of urban life, public health, ethnicity, the media and poverty, according to the press release.

"Today, the field of American women in history is growing exponentially with the realization of the countless extraordinary women who alter history on a daily basis," Burry said.

The ceremony concluded with the clear message that women continue excelling as leaders in all walks of life and the brave women who wear the uniform of the U.S. Armed Forces strengthen the nation while helping to lay the foundations of peace and freedom for generations to come.