Women’s Equality Day

In 1973, U.S. Congress designated August 26 as “Women’s Equality Day” to commemorate the day in 1920 when female citizens of the U.S. were constitutionally granted the right to vote through the certification of the 19th Amendment. This right was a long time in the making; the first women’s rights convention was held more than 70 years earlier – July 1848 - at Seneca Falls when women declared the right to broader educational and professional opportunities and the right of married women to control their wages and property. Thirty years later - in 1878 – the 19th Amendment was initially introduced but failed. After World War I, when women’s contributions were more widely acknowledged, the suffrage movement gained momentum. Today, Women’s Equality Day also highlights women’s continued fight for equal wages and rights.