Rosie

Significant events in The Women's Rights Movement before the 1920's (1850-1920)

  • First prominent women's rights newspaper

    First prominent women's rights newspaper
    Amelia Jenks Bloomer publishes and edits Lily the first prominent women's rights newspaper.
  • Elizabeth Blackwell

    Elizabeth Blackwellbecame the first woman to earn a medical degree from an American college, Geneve Medical College in New York.
  • First Nationa Women's Convention

    First Nationa Women's Convention
    The first National Women's Rights Convention takes place in Worcester, Mass., attracting more than 1,000 participants. National conventions are held yearly (except for through 1860, but skip 1857.
  • The "Lucy Stoners".

    The "Lucy Stoners".
    Lucy Stone becomes first woman on record to keep her own name after marriage, setting a trend among women who are consequently known as "Lucy Stoners."
  • Formation of the National Woman Suffrage Association

    Formation of the National Woman Suffrage Association by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The primary goal of the organization is to achieve voting rights for women by means of a Congressional amendment to the Constitution.
  • Formation of the American Woman Suffrage Association

    Lucy Stone, Henry Blackwell, and others form the American Woman Suffrage Association. This group focuses exclusively on gaining voting rights for women through amendments to individual state constitutions.
  • Firs Suffrage law passed.

    The territory of Wyoming passes the first women's suffrage law. The following year, women begin serving on juries in the territory. The Wyoming territoy passes the first women's suffrage law. The next year we see women serving on juries in the Wyoming territory.
  • Arabella Mansfield.

    Arabella Mansfield.
    Iowa is the first state to admit a woman to the bar.
  • Time for a Change

    Time for a Change
    Charlotte E. Ray, Howard University law school graduate, becomes first African-American woman admitted to the US bar.
  • Helen Magill

    Helen Magill
    Helen Magill is the first woman to receive a Ph.D. at a US school, a doctorate in Greek from Boston University.
  • First woman to obtain presidential votes

    First woman to obtain presidential votes
    Belva Lockwood, presidential candidate of the National Equal Rights Party, is the first woman to receive votes in a presidential election (appx. 4,000 in six states).
  • NAWSA is Formed

    The National Women Suffrage Association and the American Women Suffrage Association merge to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). As the movement's mainstream organization, NAWSA wages state-by-state campaigns to obtain voting rights for women.
  • Colorado adopts women amendment

    Colorado is the first state to adopt an amendment granting women the right to vote. Utah and Idaho follow suit in 1896, Washington State in 1910, California in 1911, Oregon, Kansas, and Arizona in 1912, Alaska and Illinois in 1913, Montana and Nevada in 1914, New York in 1917; Michigan, South Dakota, and Oklahoma in 1918.
  • Natioanl Association of Colored women is formed.

    Natioanl Association of Colored women is formed.
    The National Association of Colored Women is formed, bringing together more than 100 black women's clubs. Leaders in the black women's club movement include Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, Mary Church Terrell, and Anna Julia Cooper.
  • Women are wage earners

    Over five million U.S. women are wage earners, about 20 percent ofthe adult female population.
  • Formation of the national Women's Trade union

    Formation of the national Women's Trade union
    Middle class reformers and women labor organizers join forces toform the national Women's Trade Unions League (WTUL), to bringpublic attention to the concerns of women workers
  • First deafblind person to earn a BA

    First deafblind person to earn a BA
    Helen Keller graduated from Radcliffe, becoming the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.
  • Model for legislation

    146 workers, most of whom are women and girls, die in the TriangleShirtwaist fire in New York City, ultimately resulting inprotective legislation for workers in New York that becomes a modelfor legislation in other states.
  • Alice Paul and Lucy Burns

    Alice Paul and Lucy Burns
    Alice Paul and Lucy Burns organize the Congressional Union, which later becomes the National Women's Party. Members picket the White House and engage in other forms of civil disobedience, drawing public attention to the suffrage cause.
  • Lucy Burns

    Lucy Burns
    Lucy Burns form the Congressional Union to work toward the passage of a federal amendment to give women the vote
  • WWI: Women make thier move

    WWI: Women make thier move
    During WWI women move into many jobs - working in heavyindustry, in mining, chemical manufacturing, automobile and railwayplants. They also run street cars, conduct trains, direct traffic, anddeliver mail
  • All Female staff

    The Woman’s Bank opens in Clarksville, Tennessee, under BrendaRunyon and with an all-female staff
  • BPW Founded

    The National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs (BPW) is founded.
  • WOMEN ARE VOTING!

    WOMEN ARE VOTING!
    The 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote, is signed into law by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby.
  • ΣΓΡ

    Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority was founded. It was the fourth black Greek letter organization for women.
  • Virginia Proctor Powell Florence

    Virginia Proctor Powell Florence became the first African-American woman to earn a degree in library science. She earned the degree in 1923 from the Carnegie Library School, which later became part of the University of Pittsburgh
  • Surpreme Court gets involved

    Surpreme Court gets involved
    Supreme Court strikes down a 1918 minimum-wage law for District of Columbia women because, with the vote, women are considered equal to men. This ruling cancels all state minimum wage laws.