The Fight For Equality: June 2011

The End

Over the span of many decades, many battles have been won. Many records have been set and many issues have been resolved. However, the battle is not completely over. People are still actively fighting for what they call Equality for Women. The Fight For Women's Rights still continues.

Not the End...

June 10, 1963, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act which made it illegal for employers to pay a woman less than what a man would receive for the same job. Over the next years, no subject is left untouched. From divorce to equal property distribution to abortion, many campaigns were launched to heed light on these issues.

In 1964, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of sex, race, religion, and national origin.Simultaneously, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was established to review complaints and impose penalties/punishments to those who did not comply with the law.

In 1966, The National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded by a group of feminists including Betty Friedan. She was the author of the best-selling and influential book The Feminine Mystique.

The largest women's rights group in the U.S., NOW seeks to end sexual discrimination by means of legislative lobbying, litigation, and public demonstrations.

After The Vote Was Won

The vote may have been won but women were still not created equal in the eyes of our government. This became the fuel to enable various women to continue the fight for equality. Out of the suffrage movement arose the Birth Control Movement led by public health nurse, Margaret Sanger. She founded the American Birth Control League, which later became the Planned Parenthood Federation of America in 1942. For years to come birth control advocates engaged in countless legal suits. In 1960, The Food and Drug Administration approved birth control pills.

19th Century Progress

The 19th century is when all the fights came to their peaking point. It was either victory or failure. Most memorably, in 1919, the federal woman suffrage amendment is passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate. It was written by Susan B. Anthony and it took over 30 years for it to be put into effect, with it being first introduced in Congress in 1878.The next year the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor is formed with the sole purpose of collecting information about women in the workforce and safeguarding good working conditions for women. August 26 marked the historical day in which the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote, was signed into law by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby.

Esther Peterson became the director of the Women's Bureau of the Dept. of Labor in 1961. Because of her, President Kennedy assembled a Commission on the Status of Women and named Eleanor Roosevelt as its chairwoman.

On The Brink of a New Century

In 1890, The National Women Suffrage Association and the American Women Suffrage Association combined to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). In 1893, Colorado became the first state to adopt an amendment granting women the right to vote. By 1918, Utah, Idaho, Washington, California, Oregon, Kansas, Arizona, Alaska, Illinois, Montana, Nevada, New York, Michigan, South Dakota, and Oklahoma had done the same.

In 1896, The National Association of Colored Women was created. Leaders in the black women's club movement include Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, Mary Church Terrell, and Anna Julia Cooper.

1869

1869 was a big year for the women's rights movement. In May,Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association. Their goal was to acquire a Congressional amendment to the Constitution regarding women and their voting rights. In November,Lucy Stone, Henry Blackwell formed the American Woman Suffrage Association (with the help of others). This group mainly focuses exclusively on gaining voting rights for women through amendments to individual state constitutions. Thankfully, their fight seems to have paid off because on December 10, The territory of Wyoming passed the first women's suffrage law. The following year, women begin serving on juries in the territory.