Women’s Equality Day
Women’s Equality Day is observed in the United States on August 26 to commemorate the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, which granted women the right to vote. This day not only celebrates the significant achievement of women's suffrage but also recognizes the ongoing struggle for gender equality that began in the mid-19th century. The women’s civil rights movement gained momentum with the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848, where activists like Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton laid the groundwork for future advocacy. Over the years, various groups, including the National American Woman Suffrage Association and the National Woman’s Party, utilized different strategies, such as marches and protests, to fight for women’s rights.
The first Women’s Strike for Equality in 1970 marked a pivotal moment in the contemporary movement, highlighting ongoing issues beyond voting rights, such as employment and educational inequalities. Representative Bella Abzug introduced a bill in 1971 to officially recognize August 26 as Women’s Equality Day, a designation that has been observed annually since. Despite these advancements, women in the U.S. continue to face significant challenges, including wage gaps, health care disparities, and issues related to safety and reproductive rights. Various women’s groups remain active in advocating for equal rights and addressing these inequalities.
Subject Terms
Women’s Equality Day
In the United States, August 26 denotes Women's Equality Day. It is the day women gained the right to vote in 1920 with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. The day celebrates the culmination of the women's civil rights movement that began in the 1840s. In addition, the day signifies women's efforts toward full equality.
History of Women's Suffrage
The beginning of the women's civil rights movement can be traced back to 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, where the first women's rights convention was held. Organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, abolitionists fighting to end slavery, the convention marked the beginning of the fight for equal rights for women—specifically the right to vote. Women held marches, distributed pamphlets, wrote editorials, gave speeches, lobbied political organizations, and held demonstrations to get their voices heard.
By the 1860s, however, the women's rights movement was overlooked because of the American Civil War. Slavery was abolished after the war, and the subsequent Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments granted citizenship to all men—including African Americans—and gave all men the right to vote. Women such as Stanton and Susan B. Anthony believed it was time to push the American government to extend suffrage to women as well.
In 1869, they formed a group called the National Woman Suffrage Association, aligning with southerners who opposed the Fifteenth Amendment—but for different reasons. The women began to fight for an amendment to the Constitution that would grant women the right to vote. Another group that did not want to endanger rights for African Americans formed the separate American Woman Suffrage Association to fight the Fifteenth Amendment. In 1878, the woman suffrage amendment was introduced to Congress; however, it failed to pass.
Eventually in 1890, the two groups merged into the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) led by Stanton. The group continued to fight for the right for women to vote. Near the end of the nineteenth century, Idaho and Utah granted women the right to vote. In 1910, several western states allowed women to vote.
The NAWSA president, Carrie Chapman Catt, in 1916, organized local and state suffrage groups in a campaign called Winning Plan to get southern and eastern states to side with the women. A group of women broke off from the NAWSA and called themselves the National Woman's Party. They used other tactics such as hunger strikes and picket lines at the White House to get their message heard. This was the first time in history that any group of people had picketed the White House.
World War I slowed the women's movement. However, women used the war to advance their efforts, providing support to soldiers and their country during the war to show that they were deserving of citizenship. The woman suffrage amendment was again submitted to Congress in 1919, and this time, the Senate and House of Representatives approved it. However, the women's groups just needed two-thirds of the states to ratify the amendment before it could pass. The groups spent the next year lobbying the states, with Tennessee becoming the final state needed for ratification. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby signed the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution that officially granted women the right to vote into law on August 26, 1920.
Continued Fight for Equality
While American women gained the right to vote, they still faced several inequalities regarding employment and education, as well as other issues. On August 26, 1970, activist Betty Friedan, who cofounded the National Organization for Women (NOW), organized groups of women around the nation to strike for equality. At the time, the Women's Strike for Equality was the largest protest for gender equality in the United States. More than one hundred thousand women took part in protests in more than ninety cities across the country.
In addition to protesting, the groups were responsible for several events that gained national attention for women's rights. About fifty thousand women organized a march on Fifth Avenue in New York City. One group of women climbed the Statue of Liberty in New York and hung banners from its crown. They read, "Women of the World Unite" and "March on August 26 for Equality." A group of women stopped the ticker at the American Stock Exchange, while another group protested outside with signs that read, "We won't bear any more bull." Also on this day, a group of women filed a lawsuit against the New York City Board of Education to gain equal pay for female school administrators. The lawsuit lasted in the courts for nearly ten years, but the women eventually were able to gain pay raises for female principals. Many people took note of the events. The New York Times covered many of the events held throughout the city that day and published its first piece on the women's movement.
In 1971, Representative Bella Abzug, a Democrat from New York, introduced a bill to designate August 26 as Women's Equality Day. The bill passed, and since then, it has been recognized annually by numerous women's groups across the United States. Many hold special events to commemorate women's suffrage and the 1970 Women's Strike for Equality.
Even in the twenty-first century, however, women in the United States still face gender inequality in politics, education, employment, and more. They face struggles with health care, poverty, violence, safety, and reproductive rights. In addition, women still make less money than men; women working full-time in the United States are paid just 84 percent of what men are paid. This differs by state and by race, with minority women making even less. Women's groups across the United States continue to work to close this gap as well as acquire equal gender rights.
Bibliography
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Smilowitz, Ariel. "For U.S. Women, Inequality Takes Many Forms." Huff Post Women. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. 14 Apr. 2015. Web. 20 Dec. 2015. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ariel-smilowitz/for-us-women-inequality-takes-many-forms‗b‗7064348.html. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025.
"Women's Equality Day." National Women's History Project. National Women's History Project. Web. 20 Dec. 2015. http://www.nwhp.org/resources/commemorations/womens-equality-day/. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025.