Childrens Illustrated Encyclopedia

WOMEN’S RIGHTS

571

Seneca fallS

The first national women’s

rights convention was held

at Seneca falls, new York,

in July 1848. Its organizers

included lucretia Mott and

elizabeth cady Stanton

(right), two abolitionists who

were leaders of the growing

women’s movement.

Delegates at the meeting

demanded equal rights and

opportunities for women,

including the right to vote.

Seneca falls is now the site

of the Women’s Rights

national Historical Park.

WoMen In PolITIcS

Winning the right to vote was an important victory in

the quest for equality between the sexes. Since that time,

women have been able to influence the decision-making

process by becoming candidates for political office. In

recent years record numbers of women have been elected

to government posts at the local, state, and national levels.

Women have also been chosen for important federal jobs,

such as Supreme court justice, attorney general, surgeon

general, and ambassador to the United nations.

noW foR WoMen

founded in 1966 to fight for

women’s equality issues, the

national organization for

Women (noW) became the

strongest women’s rights group in

the country. one of its founders

and its first president was

author Betty friedan (right),

whose groundbreaking 1963

book, The Feminine Mystique,

helped launch the women’s

liberation movement. noW

has campaigned on many

women’s issues, including

sex discrimination in the

workplace and the equal

Rights amendment. Today,

noW has more than 500

chapters in 50 states.

a voIce foR all WoMen

although the women’s liberation

movement sought to unite all women,

some nonwhite women did not feel

part of a movement led mostly by

whites. Shirley chisholm (left),

the first african-american woman

elected to congress, founded

one of many women’s rights

organizations that encouraged

women from minorities to vote.

eqUal RIgHTS aMenDMenT

originally written by suffragette alice Paul in 1923, the

equal Rights amendment (eRa) was passed by congress

in 1972 and sent to each state for approval. This

amendment to the constitution declared, “equality of

rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by

the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

over the next few decades, women campaigned for its

introduction. However, when the deadline for

ratification came in 1982, only 35 of the necessary 38

states supported the amendment, and the eRa failed.

Geraldine Ferraro

was the first female

vice-presidential

candidate in America.

abolitionist movement

civil rights

Human rights

Find out more

US_571_Womens_Rights_2.indd 571 27/01/16 2:40 pm