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Women's History

Women’s History Month is an annual celebration of women’s contributions to history, culture and society. Women’s history in the United States has been full of trailblazers and pioneers: Women who fought for their rights, worked hard to be treated equally and made great strides in fields like science, politics, sports, literature and art.

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November 1991: Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court William Rehnquist and the newly installed Associate Justice Clarence Thomas (l) in the Supreme Court building. All nine Supreme Court Justices are shown.

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Planned Parenthood v. Casey

After Roe v. Wade In the January 22, 1973, Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court, in a 7-2 vote, ruled that abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy was a constitutional right protected by the 14th Amendment. The ruling included a trimester framework in which it was left to a woman and her doctor […]

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Feminism

Feminism, a belief in the political, economic and cultural equality of women, has roots in the earliest eras of human civilization. It is typically separated into three waves: first wave feminism, dealing with property rights and the right to vote; second wave feminism, focusing on equality and anti-discrimination, and third wave feminism, which started in […]

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Crowd at pro-choice rally, re possible SCrowd at pro-choice rally, re possible Supreme Court reversal of Roe v. Wade decision. (Photo by Andrew Holbrooke/Getty Images)

Roe v. Wade

Abortion Before Roe v. Wade Until the late 19th century, abortion was legal in the United States before “quickening,” the point at which a woman could first feel movements of the fetus, typically around the fourth month of pregnancy. Some of the early regulations related to abortion were enacted in the 1820s and 1830s and […]

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2017 Events

Politics Trump’s inauguration: After a divisive election season, Donald Trump officially became the 45th President of the United States on January 20, 2017. In a 16-minute inaugural address (the shortest since Jimmy Carter‘s in 1977), Trump repeated his “America First” campaign slogan in which he delivered a dark-toned nationalist, populist message. The slogan “America First” […]

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Stories

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Muriel Siebert, first female head of a brokerage firm, above the floor of the NY Stock Exchange.

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7 Trailblazing American Women Entrepreneurs

Long before Martha and Oprah, as far back as the late colonial era, these successful business women were breaking glass ceilings.

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Head of a high priestess with inlaid eyes Mesopotamia, Akkadian, Ur (modern Tell el-Muqayyar), area EH, south of gipar Akkadian period (ca. 2334–2154 BC) Alabaster, shell, lapis lazuli, and bitumen; 9.5 × 8 × 8.5 cm. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, USA, excavated 1926; B16228

The Earliest Known Author Was a Woman from Mesopotamia

A priestess named Enheduanna claimed authorship to poetry and other texts—sometimes in first-person—more than a millennium before Homer.

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A 1976 photo of a woman holding a pack of birth control pills.

Reproductive Rights in the US: Timeline

Since the early 1800s, U.S. federal and state governments have taken steps both securing and limiting access to contraception and abortion.

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American poet and author Maya Angelou gestures while speaking in a chair during an interview at her home on April 8, 1978.

Maya Angelou Thrived in Multiple Careers Before Becoming a Writer

The poet and author of ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ constantly tackled new roles, including streetcar conductor, dancer and journalist.

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Videos


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The Unsinkable Molly Brown

A look at the extraordinary life of Margaret Brown, best known as ‘Unsinkable Molly Brown’ after she survived the 1912 RMS Titanic disaster. She later became an activist for workers’ and women’s rights and made a bid for election six years before women had the right to vote.

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This Day in History

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2017

Women’s March

21st Century
1848

Seneca Falls Convention begins

Women’s History
1922

Supreme Court defends women’s voting rights

Women’s History
1932

Hattie Wyatt Caraway becomes first woman elected to U.S. Senate

Women’s History
1976

Women inducted into U.S. Naval Academy for the first time

Women’s History
1947

First female army officer is appointed

Women’s History
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