Women's Equality Day, August 26

WHEN: August 26, ANNUALLY

WHERE: United States. Check your local area for remembrances and celebrations.

REGISTRATION:

Never forget that women were denied the right to vote, treated as voiceless property. Women stood up, risked their lives and livelihood, to ratify one of the most important rights for women, the right to vote.

Women's Equality Day is celebrated on August 26 and commemorates the 19th amendment granting women the right to vote. The 19th amendment states:

"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

The 19th amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920, but it actually wasn't certified until it was signed by a government official eight days later. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby signed the historic proclamation on August 26, 1920 (a week after its ratification) at 8 a.m. in Washington, D.C., without an audience or any fanfare.

National Women's History Alliance

At the behest of Rep. Bella Abzug (D-NY), in 1971 and passed in 1973, the U.S. Congress designated August 26 as "Women's Equality Day." The date was selected to commemorate the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote. This was the culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women that had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world's first women's rights convention, in Seneca Falls, New York. The observance of Women's Equality Day not only commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, but also calls attention to women's continuing efforts toward full equality. Workplaces, libraries, organizations, and public facilities now participate with Women's Equality Day programs, displays, video showings, or other activities.

Women’s Equality Day