Women’s History: Women's Rights & Famous Women (Video)

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Women’s History Milestones: A Timeline

Women’s history is full of trailblazers in the fight for equality in the United States. From Abigail Adams imploring her husband to “remember the ladies” when envisioning a government for the American colonies, to suffragists like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton fighting for women’s right to vote, to the rise of feminism and Hillary […]

Equal Pay Act

WAGE GAP The Equal Pay Act was an effort to correct a centuries-old problem of gender-based wage discrimination. Women made up a quarter of the American workforce by the early 20th century, but they were traditionally paid far less than men, even in cases where they performed the same job. In some states, female workers […]

Illustration of First Women's Rights Convention in 1848(Original Caption) Seneca Falls, NY: Cartoon representing feminist speaker denouncing men at the first Women's Rights Convention, July 19-20, 1848, Seneca Falls, NY, where the American feminist movement was launched. Undated engraving. BPA2# 5480

Seneca Falls Convention

What Was the Seneca Falls Convention? Originally known as the Woman’s Rights Convention, the Seneca Falls Convention fought for the social, civil and religious rights of women. The meeting was held from July 19 to 20, 1848 at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New York. Despite scarce publicity, 300 people—mostly area residents—showed up. On […]

Frances Perkins

Frances Perkins (1880-1965) achieved historic gains as U.S. secretary of labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. After graduating from Mount Holyoke College, she was a teacher before becoming involved in social reform. She was the first woman to serve on the New York State Industrial Commission, as well as the first to hold a U.S. […]

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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

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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.

Eleanor Delano Roosevelt, seated, with a wide, warm smile

Eleanor Roosevelt’s Unprecedented Activism—From Inside the White House

The 32nd first lady wielded an influential—and disruptive—voice on behalf of equality, civil rights and social justice.

How Althea Gibson Faced Racial Barriers—Even as a Tennis Champion

Between 1956 and 1958, Gibson became the first Black player to win the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Nationals. But none of it came easy.

Writer, feminist, poet and civil-rights activist Audre Lorde (1934-1992) poses for a photograph during her 1983 residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

What Are the Four Waves of Feminism?

The history of established feminist movements in the United States roughly breaks down into four different time periods.

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Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo

Human Rights Organization, Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, fight to find their grandchildren who were kidnapped by Argentina’s Authoritarian government in the 1970s.

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Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale was so respected in the field of nursing that she was tapped to consult with the British Army. Learn more about the health reforms that she instituted in this video.

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