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Women's Suffrage
Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change in the Constitution – guaranteeing women the right to vote. -
National Women’s Suffrage Movement formed
In 1869, Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association. Later that year, Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and others formed the American Woman Suffrage Association. However, not until the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919 did women throughout the nation gain the right to vote. -
Margaret Sanger opens first birth control clinic in the United States
Margaret Sanger opened her first birth control clinic, the Clinical Research Bureau, in 1916, in a building on Amboy Street in Brooklyn that is no longer standing. It was next quartered in rented rooms on West 15th Street, and purchased this building in 1930 as its first permanent home. -
Jeanette Rankin elected to Congress
Four years before ratification of the 19th Amendment secured American women's constitutional right to vote, Jeannette Rankin became the first woman elected to Congress. Rankin was sworn in as a representative for Montana. She served a second term in the House of Representatives in 1941 -
19th Amendment of the United States
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the United States and its states from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex, in effect recognizing the right of women to vote. -
The Alaska Equal Rights Act signed into law
The bill was approved by the Alaskan Territorial Legislature. This legislation was initially proposed by the Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB) and Alaska Native Sisterhood (ANS), organizations composed primarily of Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people from Southeast Alaska. The law prevents and criminalizes discrimination against individuals in public areas based on race. -
Civil Rights Movement launched
The civil rights movement was a social movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement in the country. The Montgomery bus boycott was one of the first major movements that initiated social change during the civil rights movement. -
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Women’s Liberation Movement
The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great change (political, intellectual, cultural) throughout the world. -
FDA Approves first birth control pill
1960, The first oral contraceptive, Enovid, a mix of the hormones progesterone and estrogen, is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It quickly became known simply as “the Pill.” -
The Feminine Mystique was written
The Feminine Mystique is a book by Betty Friedan, widely credited with sparking second-wave feminism in the United States. Published by W. W. Norton, The Feminine Mystique became a bestseller, initially selling over a million copies. -
Equal Pay Act was signed into law
As men began to join the military and women began to take over their civilian jobs, unions started to advocate for equal pay. They felt that this would prevent employers from undercutting future wages for men. In addition, the National War Labor Board endorsed the idea of equal pay for equal work -
Civil Rights Act signed into law
Despite Kennedy's assassination in November of 1963, his proposal culminated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. President Lyndon Johnson signed it into law just a few hours after it was passed by Congress. The act outlawed segregation in businesses such as theaters, restaurants, and hotels. -
Title IX was passed into law
Title IX of the Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon. However, Title IX began its journey through all three branches of government when Representative Patsy T. Mink, of Hawaii, who is recognized as the major author and sponsor of the legislation, introduced it in Congress. It was created to provide affordable birth control and reproductive health care to people with low incomes, who couldn't otherwise afford these services on their own. -
Roe v. Wade Court Case
In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decided that the right to privacy implied in the 14th Amendment protected abortion as a fundamental right. However, the government retained the power to regulate or restrict abortion access depending on the stage of pregnancy. -
“Battle of the Sexes” tennis match
Battle of the Sexes, exhibition tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs that took place inside the Astrodome in Houston. The match was something of a spectacle as the in-her-prime King defeated the 55-year-old Riggs in three straight sets, but the event nevertheless was a significant moment in the second wave of the women’s movement that took place during the 1970s. -
Sandra Day O’Connor sworn in to US Supreme Court
When Justice Potter Stewart retired in 1981, President Reagan fulfilled that promise by nominating O'Connor, noting that she was a “person for all seasons.” The Senate unanimously confirmed her appointment and four days later, she took her seat on the Bench.