Nancy_Pelosi,_Anna_Eshoo,_Barbara_Lee.html" ;"title="Anna_Eshoo.html" ;"title="Nancy Pelosi, Anna Eshoo">Nancy Pelosi, Anna Eshoo, Barbara Lee">Anna_Eshoo.html" ;"title="Nancy Pelosi, Anna Eshoo">Nancy Pelosi, Anna Eshoo, Barbara Lee and Jackie Speier on the 96th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, when women won the right to vote. Women's Equality Day is list of minor secular observances#August, celebrated in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

on August 26 to commemorate the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment (Amendment XIX) to the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

, which prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the

right to vote Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. It was first celebrated in 1971, designated by Congress in 1973, and is proclaimed each year by the United States President.

History

The date was chosen to commemorate the day in 1920 when the Secretary of State

Bainbridge Colby Bainbridge Colby (December 22, 1869 – April 11, 1950) was an American politician and attorney who was a co-founder of the United States Progressive Party and Woodrow Wilson's last Secretary of State. Colby was a Republican until he helped co-f ...

signed the proclamation granting American women the constitutional right to vote. In 1971, following the 1970 nationwide Women's Strike for Equality, and again in 1973, as the battles over the Equal Rights Amendment continued, Congresswoman Bella Abzug of New York introduced a resolution to designate August 26 as Women's Equality Day. In 1972, President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

issued Proclamation 4147, which designated August 26, 1972, as "Women's Rights Day" and was the first official proclamation of Women's Equality Day. On August 16, 1973, Congress approved H.J. Res. 52, which stated that August 26 would be designated as Women's Equality Day and that "the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation in commemoration of that day in 1920 on which the women in America were first guaranteed the right to vote". The same day, President Nixon issued Proclamation 4236 for Women's Equality Day, which began, in part: "The struggle for women's suffrage, however, was only the first step toward full and equal participation of women in our Nation's life. In recent years, we have made other giant strides by attacking sex discrimination through our laws and by paving new avenues to equal economic opportunity for women. 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". , every president since Richard Nixon has issued a proclamation each year designating August 26 as Women's Equality Day.Search page, "Equality Day"
The American Presidency Project.

References

External links

Presidential Proclamations of Women's Equality Day by decade

* 1970s
1972 (called Women's Rights Day)19731974197519761977197819791980
* 1980s
1981198219831984198519861987198819891990
* 1990s
199119921993199419951996199719992000
* 2000s
200420092010
* 2010s
201120122013201420152016

2018

19th Amendment

National Archives – 19th Amendment
{{Suffrage August observances Observances in the United States Second-wave feminism Women in the United States 1973 establishments in the United States

History

See also

Other holidays honoring women

References

External links

Presidential Proclamations of Women's Equality Day by decade

19th Amendment