Womens history timeline

United States Women's History

  • The First English Women Arrive in Jamestown

    The First English Women Arrive in Jamestown
    When the Virginia Comapany of London first granted a charter for men to settle Jamestown in the new world for mainly economical reasons in 1607, they did not believe bringing women was necessary or appropriate due to harsh conditions. Eventually women were also brought to settle the land which some historians argue was crucial to Jamestown's survival because of the stablility women brought.
  • Abigail Adam's "Remember the Ladies" letter

    Abigail Adam's "Remember the Ladies" letter
    Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, sends a plea to her husband who is drafting the new US constitution in the form of a letter, begging him to "remember the ladies"
  • Revoked the Right to Vote

    Revoked the Right to Vote
    In the Consitutional Convention it was decided that the power to grant the right to vote be placed in the hands of the states rather than federal government. This caused women to not be allowed the right to vote immiediately except for in New Jersey, which later revoked women's rights in 1807.
  • First Women's Rights Convention

    First Women's Rights Convention
    The first women's rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. After discussion and debate 62 women and 32 men sign a list of grievences formally known as the Declaration of Sentiments. This list of grievences sets an agenda for a future women's rights movement.
  • First National Women's Rights Convention

    First National Women's Rights Convention
    The first national women's rights convention took place in Worcester, Massachusetts. This nationally recognized convention involved around 1,000 atendees.
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    Annual National Conventions

    Each year from 1851-1860, save 1857, national women's rights conventions were held at several locations throughout the United States. These consistent annual conventions greatly popularized the idea of a women's suffarage movement and inspired many to become involved.
  • National Woman's Suffarage Association

    National Woman's Suffarage Association
    Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the NWSA. Its primary goal was to grant women the right to vote by adding an ammendment to the constitution.
  • American Woman Suffarage Association

    American Woman Suffarage Association
    Like the National Woman Suffarage Association founded earlier in 1869, the American Woman Suffarage Association's main goal was to grant women the right to vote. Founded by Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell, the organization sought to grant women this right by placing ammendments in individual state constitutions rather than work on a federal level.
  • Ammendment Drafted

    Ammendment Drafted
    Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton drafted the ammendment that would one day be ratified as the 19th ammendment to the constitution, finally granting the right to vote. Although Anthony and Stanton presented their draft in 1878, it wasn't until 41 years later until 1919 that congress finally gave it to the states for ratification.
  • NAWSA is founded

    NAWSA is founded
    The National Woman Suffarage Association and the American Woman Suffarage Association merge to form the National American Woman Suffarage Association (NAWSA). This organization becomes the main voice and movement in women's suffarage and launched state by state compaigns to give women voting rights.
  • Colorado Grants Women Voting Rights

    Colorado Grants Women Voting Rights
    The growing influence of NAWSA and other organizations pursuing giving women the right to vote grows strong enough for a new ammendment to pass granting women this right in Colorado.
  • National Association of Colored Women

    National Association of Colored Women
    The National Association of Colored Women was formed and brought over 100 African American Women's clubs together. This new association brought black women into women's suffarage movement more than ever before.
  • National Women's Trade Union League

    National Women's Trade Union League
    The WTUL was a group of working class women that advocated for better, more fair working conditions for women and eliminate poor sweatshop conditions. The WTUL helped organzied strike forces to demand these things.
  • First Birth Control Clinic is Opened

    First Birth Control Clinic is Opened
    Margaret Sanger opened the first US birth control clinic in Brooklyn, New York. The establishment is open only 10 days before she was arrested and the clinic was shut down.
  • The Roaring 20's Begin

    The Roaring 20's Begin
    During the 1920's women began to take on a new identity as well as outward presentation, particularly in urban areas. Women cut their hair, did away with tight corsets as they wore before, and wore hemmed, waistless dresses seen as scandalous by many. This new persona for women became known as a "flapper".
  • Women Officially Granted Right to Vote

    Women Officially Granted Right to Vote
    The nineteenth ammendment of the constitution was passed in congress, giving women the right to vote.
  • American Birth Control League

    American Birth Control League
    Margaret Sanger founded the American Birth Control League. This later evolves into modern day Planned Parenthood. Sanger helped popularize and make more commonly accepted the idea that contreception is a basic human right rather than an evil as most of society saw it.
  • National Council of Negro Women

    National Council of Negro Women
    Mary McLeod Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women in order to take a stand against discrimination in the workplace and society for black women.
  • US Enters WWII

    US Enters WWII
    When the United States became involved in WWII in 1941, women were forced to step up in ways they had never before. As many men went off to war women took on jobs that only men had before, and also became more of a symbol of strenth in American Society. Some women were even involved in the war effort.
  • The Daughters of Bilitis (DOB)

    The Daughters of Bilitis (DOB)
    The Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), the first lesbian organization in the United States, was founded as a social group. It later gained a political agenda as it argued for rights and acceptance of lesbians in community and government.
  • Civil Rights Act

    Title VII of the Civil Rights Act makes it illegal to discriminate in employment based on race and sex. It also established the Equal Oppurtunity Employment Commission.