This year is the 100th anniversary of the congressional passage of the 19th Amendment which would give women the right to vote, but this did not mark the end of the fight for women’s rights in the United States. This Women’s History Month is an opportune time to examine feminist movements in the United States and learn about how the movement has progressed to become more inclusive over the last 100 years.
Our Women’s History Month display provides a timeline of events and landmark policies to show that women in America have been fighting for their rights since 1776, when Abigail Adams famously wrote to her husband to “remember the ladies… If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice, or representation,” to today, when a record number of women now serve in the United States Congress.
We have also included short biographies of influential, albeit sometimes controversial, women, such as Alice Paul (famous for her militant protest tactics), Carol Hanisch (famous for the ‘Bra Burning’ Miss America protest), and Patricia Robinson (famous for her essay “Poor Black Women” which called out the feminist movements oppression of black women) in order to highlight the different ways women have stood up for their rights.
With the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment on the horizon, we hope our display inspires students to learn more about the feminist movement in the United States and the fight for women’s rights around the world; more importantly, we hope it starts a conversation about the ways in which we can progress to true equality for all.
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