Happy Women’s Day!
As we prepare to celebrate the 110th annual International Women’s Day, we must take a look back to celebrate the trailblazers and milestones that have brought us to where we are today. The history of women’s rights is fascinating, with many key figures who don’t always get the spotlight they deserve. Today we’re shining it to celebrate the women who came before and made the world a more equal place!
A Brief History of Women
July 19-20 1848: At Seneca Falls, New York, 300 women and men sign the Declaration of Sentiments, a plea for the end of discrimination against women.
January 23, 1849: Elizabeth Blackwell made history when she became the first woman to graduate from medical school and began practicing medicine in the United States.
Dec. 10, 1869: Wyoming passed America’s first woman suffrage law, granting women the right to both vote and to hold office.
May 15, 1869: The National Woman Suffrage Association was founded by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
October 16, 1916: The first birth control clinic in the United States was opened by Margaret Sanger in Brownsville, Brooklyn—what would eventually become Planned Parenthood as we know it today.
Aug. 18, 1920: The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, giving women the right to vote.
Dec. 1, 1955: In Montgomery, Alabama, Black seamstress Rosa Parks famously refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus — an event that became pivotal to the launch of the civil rights movement.
May 9, 1960: The FDA approved the first commercially produced birth control pill.
June 10, 1963: The Equal Pay act was signed into law by President John F. Kennedy, forbidding wage discrimination against women performing the same job as men in the same workplace.
July 2, 1964: The Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Title VII forbids employment discrimination based on race, religion, national origin or sex.
Jan. 22, 1973: The groundbreaking 7-2 Roe v. Wade decision was made in the U.S. Supreme Court declaring a woman’s legal right to an abortion as supported by the Constitution.
July 7, 1981: Sandra Day O’Connor was sworn in as the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. She would remain in this position for the next 24 years.
Jan. 4, 2007: U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi became the first female speaker of the House.
July 26, 2016: Hillary Clinton became the first woman to receive a presidential nomination from a major political party.
January 20, 2021: Kamala Harris was sworn in as both the first woman and first woman of color to serve as Vice President of the United States.
Don’t forget to celebrate!
We’re surrounded by amazing influential women every day, and today is the day to acknowledge how far we’ve come. If there’s a woman who has had a positive effect on your life, today is the day to say thank you.
