Equality Day: 5 major advancements in Women's Rights
Today is Women's Equality Day! It has been 91 years since women were granted their voting rights on August 26, 1920. To commemorate the day and to celebrate the courageous and innovative women that will lead the future of the Women's Rights Movement, we wanted to remind readers how far women have come. Here are five major advancements women have made in the history of women's rights.
- 1. The first ever Women's Rights Convention (1848)
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton and four other friends organized the first ever Women's Rights Convention on July 19 and 20 in Seneca Falls, N.Y. Stanton wrote a Declaration of Sentiments which was signed by more than 300 women and men.
- 2. Women gain the right to vote (1920)
- 72 years after the signing of the Declaration of Sentiments, women are finally given the right to vote. Women like Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, and Sojourner Truth led the movement, traveling across the country, lecturing and organizing protests.
- 3. Title VII prohibits employment discrimination (1964)
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, race, and national origin. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was established to investigate discrimination complaints.
- 4. Title IX gives women equal access to higher education (1972)
- Finally, equal access to higher education and professional schools became the law. The number of women doctors, lawyers, engineers and architects has doubled. Athletics has become a hot issue for Title IX as universities must show a relatively equal number in male and female athletes in order to received federal funding.
- 5. Sandra Day O'Connor is elected to the Supreme Court (1981)
- Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace Potter Steward, and she became the first female Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. In 2004, Forbes listed her as the sixth most powerful woman in the world.
Check out Simmons' history and read about how founder John Simmons had a vision to education women for their own empowerment, decades before women gained the right to vote.