Women’s Equality Day, August 26th, commemorates the struggles of women to be heard, as fierce advocates who gained the statutory right to vote. Also, known as women’s suffrage, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guarantees all American women the right to vote.
Forty-six years ago, in 1971, the U.S. Congress designated August 26 as “Women’s Equality Day.” Thanks to Congresswoman Bella Abzug who got it passed, the date was selected to commemorate the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution that granted women the right to vote. This was the culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women that had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world’s first women’s rights convention, in Seneca Falls, New York. Observance of Women’s Equality Day not only commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, but also calls attention to women’s continuing efforts toward full equality.
We can all be thankful for the work done before us. Let us continue the legacy together!
Join the League of Women Voters!
League of Women Voters of the Umpqua Valley 