Few women recognized on Indiana infrastructure
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana has ramped up efforts in recent years to name dozens of state bridges and highways after famous Americans, but the amount of infrastructure honoring men far outnumber those honoring women.
After reviewing the state's 180 or so memorial bridges and highways, The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette (http://bit.ly/216APt9) found that 143 men were honored, compared with five women. The newspaper determined that 33 were named for groups, such as veterans of specific wars, while a few others highlighted an area's local history.
More than 50 of the men and women who have state infrastructure named after them are elected officials, while 45 of them are military members.
The five Indiana women honored with memorial bridges and highways are former Rep. Phyllis Pond, author Gene Stratton-Porter, actress Mary Anderson, former state Sen. Carolyn Brown Mosby and community activist Jan Buechler.
Erin Kelley, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Indiana, said the lack of female representation is the result of women's late entry into the electoral system and military service.
"Society hasn't given women the chance to serve in those positions until recent decades," she said. "Given the sphere of influence women were allowed to step into it's really only been 50 or 60 years to be vocal."
Before the 1960s, Kelley said women worked behind the scenes and don't appear much in the history books.
But she said there are several well-known women from Indiana to admire, including early women's suffrage leaders May Wright Sewall and Zerelda Wallace.
"We need to find a way to recognize women who have contributed to this country and state," Kelley said. "Part of government's job is to show people that all citizens matter."
Republican state Rep. Tom Saunders of Lewisville said ideas for these resolutions usually come from the community.
Lawmakers adopt resolutions creating memorial bridges and highways, and then the Indiana Department of Transportation is able to ignore the recommendations, but no one ever remembers that happening.
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Information from: The Journal Gazette, http://www.journalgazette.net