Women's History Facts The contributions women have made to the history of the United States are vast and diverse. Women's History Month provides an opportunity to highlight some these accomplishments. Educational Equality | Political Equality | Equality in the Workplace

150th Anniversary of the convention on women's rights in Seneca Falls

Women of Courage In the 11th century, Japanese poet and novelist, Murasaki Shikibu (c.978-c.1031), wrote Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji); a novel based in part on her years as a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Akiko. Her work, immensely popular from the moment of its release, is a masterpiece of Japanese literature and arguably the world's first novel. [Source: Olsen, Kirstin, Chronology of Women's History, 1994] Nzinga of Angola (c. 1581-1663), a monarch in the area of Africa which is today Angola, was a formidable military leader who inflicted numerous defeats upon the Dutch and Portuguese seeking to usurp control over territories within her sphere of influence. She was a talented political strategist, whose ability to gain her objectives through deft negotiation and political maneuvering often precluded the need for battle. [Source: Delamotte, Eugenia; Meeker, Natania; O'Barr, Jean, Women Imagine Change, 1997] Upon her husband's death, Cherokee leader Nancy Ward took his place in a 1775 battle against the Creeks, and led the Cherokee to victory. After the victory, her people named her Agi-ga-u-e (Beloved Women), and she became head of the Woman's Council and a member of the Council of Chiefs. [Source: Olsen]] On April 26, 1777, sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington raced through the darkness on a daring mission to warn New York patriots that the British were attacking nearby Danbury, CT, where munitions and supplies for the entire region were stored. Her spirited and heroic ride, which succeeded in rallying enough patriots to repel the British raid, covered twice the distance traveled by Paul Revere in his famous nighttime ride.[Source: Kazickas, Jurate; Sherr, Lynn, The American Woman's Gazetteer, 1976] The first person to make the daring attempt to go over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel was a woman. On October 24, 1901, Annie Edson Taylor, a forty-three-year-old schoolteacher from Michigan, climbed into a barrel and plunged over the edge of the roaring water, to the cheers of thousands of spectators. She emerged victorious, minutes later at the base of the falls. Six other people (all men) have since attempted to duplicate her amazing feat; only three have survived. [Souce: Sherr] Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony spent their lives fighting for women's suffrage, never seeing the Amendment granting women the right to vote, but never giving up hope, insisting "Failure is impossible." Alice Paul, in an effort to revitalize the suffrage movement which was focused on winning the vote for women on a state-by-state basis, lobbied Congress in 1910 to amend the Constitution to establish women's suffrage. She led a vital, grassroots and lobbying movement that eventually became the National Woman's Party, the group that initiated and penned the Equal Rights Amendment. Bella Abzug, former U.S. Representative from the State of New York, was a tireless champion for feminist issues. An attorney in civil rights and labor law before being elected to Congress, Abzug pioneered legislation against sex discrimination and fought for women's, reproductive, and lesbian and gay rights.

International Women's Day Women's History Month centers around International Women's Day, a time to celebrate the accomplishments of women worldwide and to continue the fight for global equality for women and girls. March 8, 1857: In New York City, hundreds of women garment and textile workers protested against inhumane working conditions, the 12-hour workday, and low wages. Police attacked and dispersed the women. Two years later, these women formed their first union. March 8, 1908: In New York City, 15,000 women marched, demanding shorter hours, better pay, voting rights and an end to child labor. They adopted the slogan "Bread and Roses." In May of that year, the Socialist Party of America designated National Women's Day as the last Sunday in February. February 28, 1909: The First National Women's Day was observed throughout the U.S. 1910: Women in Europe began celebrating Women's Day on the last Sunday of February. February 23, 1917: Russian women protested poor living conditions and food shortages called for a strike for bread and peace." This date fell on March 8 in the Georgian calendar. December 1977: The General Assembly adopted the resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day by Member States. International Women's Day has been observed by the United Nations on March 8 since 1975.

In 1929, Maria L. de Hernandez co-founded the civic and civil rights organization, Orden Caballeros of America. In the 1970s, she co-founded the Texas La Raza Unida Party. A native of Mexico and longtime resident of Texas, Hernandez wrote and spoke for equity and justice for her people.

On January 12, 1933 Hattie Caraway won a special election to fill her husband's Senate seat, becoming the first elected woman Senator. In February of the following year, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Frances Perkins U.S. Secretary of Labor. Perkins was the first woman ever to serve as a member of the President's Cabinet.

Mary McLeod Bethune [Source: New York Public Library]

Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) was the founder and first president of the National Council of Negro Women in 1935, and was an officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for five years. Bethune also started a school in Florida which eventually developed into Bethune-Cookman College, graduating hundreds of students a year. She was appointed Advisor on Minority Affairs for the National Youth for the National Youth Administration under President Franklin Roosevelt and other high-level government positions. In World War II, Jacqueline Cochran was the first woman to ferry a bomber to England. In 1953, Cochran became the first woman to pilot a plane faster than the speed of sound, flying a F-86 Saber jet at 760 miles per hour over Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base in California. She also set a new international record of 652 mph for a 100 kilometer closed course. Educator and civil rights activist Septima Clark trained teachers and worked in schools across the South to empower African Americans with knowledge and literacy to stand up for their rights. She spearheaded the registration of thousands of new voters in the Deep South as executive staff member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

In 1963, Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique shook the nation with its frank exposure of the frustration of American women expected solely to run the household and please husbands and children. Putting a political spin on what was long thought of as a "personal problem," Friedan empowered countless women to seek change in their own lives and in the culture at large.

Vice president of the United Farm Workers union, Dolores Huerta began her career as a teacher, organizer of voter registration drives, and community activist arguing for Spanish-speaking police officers and hospital workers. She has also served as the union's chief lobbyist in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. as a labor contractor, and as a key political decision-maker. In 1964, Patsy Mink was the first Asian-American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She wrote legislation for the Women's Educational Equity Act and was a founding member of the National Women's Political Caucus. She also served as the Assistant Secretary of State during the Carter administration and became president of Americans for Democratic Action in 1978.

Huerta at Feminist Expo 2000

In 1968, Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1972, she became the first African American woman to seek the Presidency, campaigning for the Democratic National Party's nomination.

In the early 1970s, Ruth Bader Ginsburg won precedent-setting sex discrimination cases before the Supreme Court, where she currently sits as only the second woman Justice. She was also the first female law professor tenured at Columbia University, and has been called the "godmother of legal feminism."

The gender gap was first identified and popularized in 1980 by Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal, who as President of the National Organization for Women, noted an 8% difference between men's and women's for Reagan in his election over Carter. In that race, Reagan won support from 55% of men, but only 47% of women. Since 1980, the gender gap has become a staple of modern election analysis. The gender gap has been credited with the election of President Clinton in 1996 and the election of many Congressional and statewide candidates over the past two decades. Get more information on the gender gap.

Ada Deer has been one of the leading activists for Native American issues in recent years. She became the first Menominee to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and she led her tribe in lobbying Congress to pass the Menominee Restoration Act which restored their land and treaty rights as American Indians. After an unsuccessful Congressional bid in 1992, Deer was appointed by President Clinton to a position in the Bureau for Indian Affairs.

[ For the historical context of most of these facts and events, see our online version of the acclaimed Feminist Chronicles, the source for all facts not otherwise cited on this page. For biographies of many of the women listed here, visit the National Women's Hall of Fame and the National Women's History Project]

Women's History Month 2003 Features

Women's History Month 2002 Features

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