Women’s History Month occurs in March. (View NDSL’s LibGuide here.) However, July 19th marks an important event in the Women’s Right Movement: the anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention!
The Seneca Falls Convention happened on July 19th and 20th of 1848 in the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New York. This event, organized by Elizabeth Cody Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Mary McClintock, Martha Coffin Wright, and Jane Hunt, sought to address inequalities in education, employment, the church, and voting rights for United States’ women. Organizers presented the Declaration of Sentiments. This document outlined 19 abuses and usurpations that placed females as possessing fewer rights than their male counterparts. This first convention was highly criticized and only 300 men and women attended it. However, it set in motion what would become the Women’s Rights Movement. Even after the convention, participants continued to push the Declaration of Sentiments onto leaders in government, churches, and members of the press. This campaign lasted from 1848 to 1862. During those almost two decades, women continued to slowly be granted more rights. The right to vote proved to be the most difficult to secure, finally occurring in 1920 with the signing of the Nineteenth Amendment (Seneca, 2024; and Seneca, n.d.).
History of Women’s Rights in the United States
The Women’s Rights Movement has possessed numerous highs and lows throughout America’s history. The following list highlights major events:
1770s
- In 1776, Abigal Adams wrote a letter to her husband, John Adams, to “remember the ladies” when establishing the U.S. Constitution. In this letter, she warned of rebellion if women were forced to live under laws in which they had no say.
- Somewhat ironically, and rather sadly, all American states voted against women’s right to vote in 1777.
- In 1789, the United States Constitution was ratified, using the terms “persons,” “people,” and “electors.” This allowed citizens to interpret the rights to include both men and women.
1800s
- In 1839, Mississippi was the first state to grant married women the right to hold property in their own names.
- Eighteen-forty-eight brought the Seneca Falls Convention.
- The following year saw the first woman, Elizabeth Blackwell, graduate from medical school and become a doctor.
- Sojourner Truth delivered her “Ain’t I a Woman” speech at a Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio in 1851.
- The 14th Amendment, in 1866, defined “citizens” and “voters” in the Constitution as specifically male.
- Wyoming became the first territory to pass a women’s suffrage law in 1869.
- That same year (1869), the National Woman Suffrage Association was formed.
- Eighteen-seventy saw the first female candidate run for U.S. President – Victoria Woodhull.
- The 1873 Supreme Court case Bradwell v. Illinois determined that states hold the right to exclude married women from practicing law.
- Belva Lockwood, in 1879, became the first female lawyer to try a case before the Supreme Court.
- Wyoming, officially a state, allowed women residents to vote in all elections in 1890.
1900s
- By 1900, every state passed laws that helped protect married women’s property and earnings.
- In 1916, Margaret Sanger opened a birth control clinic in Brooklyn. This clinic was attacked multiple times, and Sanger was forced to close. She went on to form the American Birth Control League in 1921, which would later become Planned Parenthood.
- Jeanette Rankin, of Montana, was elected the first woman member of the U.S. House of representatives in 1916.
- The Nineteenth Amendment, passed in 1920, allowed women the right to vote across the country.
- In 1922, Florence Ellinwood Allen, of Ohio, became the first woman elected to a state supreme court.
- Six years later, in 1928, Genevieve Rose Cline, of Ohio, became the first woman to be a federal judge.
- The National Recovery Act (1932) forbid more than one family member from holding a government job, resulting in many women losing their jobs.
- Amelia Earhart became the first woman pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932.
- In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt selected Frances Perkins as the first female Cabinet member. She was the Secretary of Labor.
- In 1960, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first commercially produced birth control pill in the world.
- The Equal Pay Act (1963) passed by Congress, promised equitable wages for the same work, regardless of the race, color, religion, national origin or sex of the worker.
- The Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, passed in 1964, prohibited against employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.
- June 30, 1966: Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique, helped found the National Organization for Women.
- Bowe v. Colgate-Palmolive Company, in 1969, ruled that women meeting the physical requirements can work in many jobs that had been for men only.
- Roe vs. Wade passed by the Supreme Court in 1973.
- Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in “The Battle of the Sexes” tennis match in 1973.
- Housing discrimination on the basis of gender was outlawed by Congress in 1974.
- Taylor v. Louisiana, in 1975, denied states the right to exclude women from juries.
- The Pregnancy Discrimination Act, in 1978, banned employment discrimination against pregnant women.
- Sandra Day O’Connor became the first women Supreme Court justice in 1981.
- Sally Ride was the first female astronaut in 1983.
- Janet Reno was sworn in as the first female attorney general of the United States in 1993.
- Madeleine Albright was sworn in as the nation’s first female secretary of state in 1997.
- The Violence Against Women Act was signed into law in 1994.
2000s
- Hillary Clinton became the first former First Lady to be elected to public office as a U.S. Senator from New York in 2005. That same year, Condoleezza Rice became the first black female Secretary of State.
- Two-thousand-and-seven witnessed Nancy Pelosi becoming the first female speaker of the House of Representatives.
- Hillary Clinton became the first former First Lady to run for U.S. Presidency in 2008.
- The military overturned a rule that women could not take part in combat positions in 2013.
- Hillary Clinton, once again running for President, became the first woman nominee for the presidential ticket in 2016.
- Women on Boards (SB 826) was signed in California, making it the first state to require women to be included on companies’ boards of directors in 2018.
- The First Step Act became law in 2018, which required the Federal Bureau of Prisons to make feminine hygiene products available to prisoners for free.
- In 2021, Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first woman Vice President.
- The Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022. This move made abortion regulation a state-by-state issue.
- A record number of women were elected to Congress in 2023: 128 elected in the House and 25 elected in the Senate.
Libraries and Women’s Rights
While United States women’s rights have come a long way, this topic continues to be an uphill battle. Libraries can show support for their female patrons by:
- Showcasing women writers and illustrators in displays and book talks.
- Providing women’s health resources. It was not until the early 1990s that women could not legally be excluded from clinical trials. This was a major problem because male and female bodies do not always react to medical drugs, procedures, and illnesses in the same way. For example, the primary sign of a heart attack is chest pain in both men and women. However, women are prone to experience less obvious symptoms, including shortness of breath, vomiting, or jaw or neck pain (Warning, n.d.). Some resources entail ND Health & Human Services: Women’s Health Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: Resources for Women’s Health, and Office on Women’s Health.
- Offering leadership and mentoring programs geared towards female participants. Women have been leaders throughout history, especially pertaining to social issues. However, a stigma exists of women being too bossy, too aggressive, not soft enough when they take on leadership roles. This view needs to change. One of the best ways to do so involves teaching teens and women that their voices matter, and they can be excellent leaders. Bonus if the libraries’ presenters for these programs are successful female leaders themselves.
- Honoring women military members. The typical image that comes to most people’s minds with the mention of military members is that of men, and usually young men. However, women have been unsung heroes in the military for the last couple centuries. For example, during the Revolutionary War, the wives of soldiers came along to help boost morale, cook, mend clothing, and clean both uniforms and cannons! Some of these women even actively fought alongside their husbands, including Margaret Corbin. Corbin would go on to receive a pension and be buried at West Point with full military honors. Another important job, often conducted by women at this time, entailed spying on enemy troops. During the Civil War, numerous women disguised themselves as men in order to go into active combat. Women have also served the military as cooks, nurses and doctors, truck drivers, fund-raising organizers, telephone and switchboard operators, and pilots. (For more detailed information, check out this resource from United Services Organizations [USO].)
- Starting a writing club for women to share their stories through poetry, memoirs, and fictional tales (At, 2010).
- Honoring local women and girls for their achievements in school, sports, the opening of new businesses, and the arts. This honoring can be as simple as hanging up newspaper articles in the library for public viewing (At, 2010).
- Inviting women artists and performers to speak at the library (At, 2010).
- Holding an information fair where women-centered organizations can share their services.
Final Thoughts
A favorite pun of mine comes from science: since Fe represents Iron, and Male represents Man, clearly Ironman is a woman! I know that pun is a bit groan-worthy—as many puns are—however, I think it addresses an important idea. Women possess a lot of power. When given appropriate resources and support, this power can change society and the world in fabulous ways. The fight for women’s rights, even in the United States, is far from over. It is not our job, as librarians, to single-handedly fix a broken system. However, it is our job to provide support and help build patrons’ confidence and knowledge to help continue this fight for equity.
I will close this article with a quotation I adore. “Strong women: May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them!”
References
NIH inclusion toolkit: How to engage, recruit, and retain women in clinical research. (n.d.). National Institutes of Health. https://orwh.od.nih.gov/toolkit/recruitment/history#:~:text=The%201985%20report%20of%20the,social%20factors%20affect%20women’s%20health.&text=In%201986%2C%20NIH%20established%20a,to%20include%20women%20in%20studies.
Seneca Falls convention. (2024, May 2). History.com. https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/seneca-falls-convention.
Seneca Falls convention. (n.d.). Calendarr. https://www.calendarr.com/united-states/seneca-falls-convention/.
Timeline of legal history of women in the United States. (n.d.). National Women’s History Alliance. https://nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org/resources/womens-rights-movement/detailed-timeline/.
Warning signs of a heart attack. (n.d.). American Heart Association. https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/heart-attack/warning-signs-of-a-heart-attack.
Women’s history milestones: Timelines. (2024, May 2). History.com https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/womens-history-us-timeline.
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