Womens Rights Movement

Timeline 1921- Modern Day

By: Ernesto Herrera, Gustavo Jr. Herrera , Luis Rosas , &
Brandon Guerrero
 1921
Margaret Sanger founds the American Birth Control League,
which evolves into the Planned Parenthood Federation of
America in 1942.
 1935
Mary Mcleod Bethune organizes the National Council of
Negro Women, a coalition of black women's groups that
lobbies against job discrimination, racism, and sexism.
 1963
Betty Friedan publishes her highly influential book The Feminine Mystique, which
describes the dissatisfaction felt by middle-class American housewives with the
narrow role imposed on them by society. The book becomes a best-seller and
galvanizes the modern women's rights movement.
 1963
Congress passes the Equal Pay Act, making it illegal for employers to pay a
woman less than what a man would receive for the same job.
 1969
California becomes the first state to adopt a "no fault" divorce law, which allows
couples to divorce by mutual consent. By 1985 every state has adopted a similar
law. Laws are also passed regarding the equal division of common property.
 1972
Title IX of the Education Amendments bans sex discrimination in schools. It states:
"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from
participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under
any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." As a
result of Title IX, the enrollment of women in athletics programs and professional
schools increases dramatically.
 1974
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits discrimination in consumer
credit practices on the basis of sex, race, marital status, religion,
national origin, age, or receipt of public assistance.
In Corning Glass Works v. Brennan, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that
employers cannot justify paying women lower wages because that is
what they traditionally received under the "going market rate." A wage
differential occurring "simply because men would not work at the low
rates paid women" is unacceptable.
 1976
The first marital rape law is enacted in Nebraska, making it
illegal for a husband to rape his wife.
 1978
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act bans employment discrimination against
pregnant women. Under the Act, a woman cannot be fired or denied a job or a
promotion because she is or may become pregnant, nor can she be forced to take
a pregnancy leave if she is willing and able to work.
 1978
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act bans employment discrimination The
Pregnancy Discrimination Act bans employment discrimination against
pregnant women. Under the Act, a woman cannot be fired or denied a
job or a promotion because she is or may become pregnant, nor can
she be forced to take a pregnancy leave if she is willing and able to
work. against pregnant women. Under the Act, a woman cannot be fired or denied
a job or a promotion because she is or may become pregnant, nor can she be
forced to take a pregnancy leave if she is willing and able to work.
 1984
EMILY's List (Early Money Is Like Yeast) is established as a financial network for
pro-choice Democratic women running for national political office. The
organization makes a significant impact on the increasing numbers of women
elected to Congress.
 1994
The Violence Against Women Act tightens federal penalties for sex offenders,
funds services for victims of rape and domestic violence, and provides for special
training of police officers. The Act provided $1.6 billion toward investigation and
prosecution of violent crimes against women, imposed automatic and mandatory
restitution on those convicted, and allowed civil redress in cases prosecutors
chose to leave un-prosecuted.
 1996
In United States v. Virginia, the Supreme Court rules that the all-male Virginia
Military School has to admit women in order to continue to receive public funding.
It holds that creating a separate, all-female school will not suffice.
 2006
The Supreme Court upholds the ban on the "partial-birth" abortion procedure. The
ruling, 54, which upholds the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, a federal law passed
in 2003, is the first to ban a specific type of abortion procedure. Writing in the
majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy said, "The act expresses respect for
the dignity of human life." Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who dissents, called the
decision "alarming" and said it is "so at odds with our jurisprudence" that it "should
not have staying power."
 2009
President Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which allows
victims of pay discrimination to file a complaint with the government against their
employer within 180 days of their last paycheck. Previously, victims (most often
women) were only allowed 180 days from the date of the first unfair paycheck.
This Act is named after a former employee of Goodyear who alleged that she was
paid 1540% less than her male counterparts, which was later found to be
accurate.
 2016
Effective Jan. 2, 2016, women will be allowed to serve in any job in the armed
services, provided they meet gender neutral performance standards. This move,
initiated in 2013 and finalized under Defense Secretary Ash Carter, will open
approximately 220,000 jobs to females.In a 53 decision on June 27, 2016, the
Supreme Court decides that a Texas law imposed on abortion clinics is
unconstitutional and provides an unnecessary burden on women seeking
abortions. The law was previously upheld and approved by lower courts but is now
overturned by the Supreme Court. Conservative Justice Kennedy provided the fifth
and essential vote, siding with the liberals. During the period of time that the Texas
abortion law was in effect, abortion clinics in Texas dropped from 42 to 19, with
more set to close.
Amelia Mary Earhart (1897- 1937)
Amelia Mary Earhart was an American aviation pioneer and author.
Earhart was the first women aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic
Ocean. She received the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross for this
accomplishment. She set many other records, wrote best-selling books
about her flying experiences and was instrumental in the formation of
The Ninety Tails, an organization for female pilots. She was also a
member of the National Womens Party and an early supporter of the
Equal Rights Amendment.
Dorothy Day (1897- 1980)
Dorothy Day was an activist who worked for such social causes as
pacifism and women's suffrage through the prism of the Catholic
Church. Intrigued by the Catholic faith for years, Dorothy Day converted
in 1927. In 1933, she co-founded The Catholic Worker, a newspaper
promoting Catholic teachings that became very successful and spawned
the Catholic Worker Movement, which tackled issues of social justice.
Day also helped establish special homes to help those in need.
Jeanette Rankin (1880- 1973)
Jeannette Pickering Rankin became the first woman to hold national
office in the United States when she was elected to the U.S. House of
Representatives in 1916 by the state of Montana as a member of the
Republican Party. Each of Rankin's Congressional terms coincided with
initiation of U.S. military intervention in each of the World Wars. A life-
long pacifist , she was one of 50 House members (total of 56 in both
chambers) who opposed the War Declaration of 1917, and the only
member of Congress to vote against declaring war on Japan after the
attack in Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Ida B. Wells (1862- 1931)
Ida B. Wells, born in Mississippi in 1862, is perhaps best known for her work as a
crusading journalist and anti-lynching activist. While working as a schoolteacher in
Memphis, Wells wrote for the citys black newspaper, The Free Speech. Her
writings exposed and condemned the inequalities and injustices that were so
common in the Jim Crow South: disfranchisement, segregation, lack of
educational and economic opportunity for African-Americans, and especially the
arbitrary violence that white racists used to intimidate and control their black
neighbors.
Alice Paul (1885- 1997)
Alice Paul was the leader of the most militant wing of the woman-suffrage
movement. Born in 1885 to a wealthy Quaker family in New Jersey, Paul was well-
educatedshe earned an undergraduate degree in biology from Swarthmore
College and a PhD in sociology from the University of Pennsylvaniaand
determined to win the vote by any means necessary.
Margaret Sanger (1879- 1966)
Margaret Sanger was an American birth control activist, sex educator,
writer, and nurse. She devoted her life to legalizing birth control and
making it universally available for women.
Mary Mcleod Bethune (1875- 1955)
Mary Jane McLeod Bethune was an American educator, stateswoman,
philanthropist, humanitarian and civil rights activist best known for
starting a private school for African-American students in Daytona
Beach, Florida.
Betty Friedan (1921- 2006)
Betty Friedan was an American writer, activist, and feminist. A leading
figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book
The Feminine Mystique is often credited with sparking the second wave
of American feminism in the 20th century.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884- 1962)
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was an American politician, diplomat, and
activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States,
having held the post from March 1933 to April 1945 during her husband
President Franklin D. Roosevelts four term presidency.
Lucy Stone (1818- 1893)
Lucy Stone, born in Massachusetts in 1818, was a pioneering
abolitionist and womens-rights activist, but she is perhaps best known
for refusing to change her last name when she married the abolitionist
Henry Blackwell in 1855. After she graduated from Oberlin College in
1847, Stone became a traveling lecturer for the American Anti-Slavery
Societyadvocating, she said, not for the slave only, but for suffering
humanity everywhere.