What is Women’s Equality Day and when is it celebrated in the USA?
The struggle for women’s equality, while there is still much to be done, took a major leap forward a century ago which is now celebrated annually.
Another major milestone for women’s equality in US history could take place this year. Once again, the Democratic party has nominated a woman to be its standard-bearer in the presidential election. Should Kamala Harris be victorious in her bid for the White House, she would become the first female US president in the nation’s nearly 250 year history.
Her ascent to the highest echelon of power would not have been possible had it not been for the struggles of women’s equality movement over the ages. While there is still much to be done, one major leap forward a century ago is now celebrated annually.
What is Women’s Equality Day and when is it celebrated in the USA?
The ratification of the Nineteenth amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave women the right to vote, was certified on 26 August, 1920. This was the culmination of a decades-long push by suffragists to enfranchise women giving them a say in the discourse of the United States.
However, it wasn’t until half a century later that the date would become a day of commemoration when “the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration of that day in 1920, on which the women of America were first given the right to vote.” Representative Bella Abzug of New York, in 1971, first introduced a resolution in the US Congress to designate 26 August as “Women’s Equality Day.”
The year before saw the largest gender-equality protest in the history of the United States on the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Nineteenth amendment. Over 100,000 women participated in demonstrations and rallies across the United States calling for equal rights in a nationwide “strike for equality.”
Representative Abzug’s bill finally passed in 1973 and in President Richard Nixon’s proclamation that year he said “The struggle for women’s suffrage, however, was only the first step toward full and equal participation of women in our Nation’s life.” Adding “Today, in virtually every sector of our society, women are making important contributions to the quality of American life. And yet, much still remains to be done.”
How is Women’s Equality Day celebrated?
The day is typically observed with schools, libraries, workplaces, and other institutions participating in events and programs that teach about local and prominent suffragists, as well as recognizing women’s progress toward equality. It’s a day not only to commemorate the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment but also highlight the continued efforts of women to achieve full equality.