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Slide 2 Womens Equality Day August 26 Celebrating Womens Right to Vote U.S. Customs & Border Protection Office of Diversity and Civil Rights Slide 3 Womens Equality Day At U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), we believe that our diversity is our strength. The Office of Diversity and Civil Rights is committed to providing high quality diversity and cultural awareness activities and educational information to CBP employees because we believe that through cultural understanding we grow stronger as an organization. We are committed to the equal representation and participation of all CBP employees in the full privileges and benefits of employment. This presentation is designed to provide you with a brief overview of the courageous suffragists and their supporters who through painstaking struggle and hard work made it possible for women to vote and to hold elected office. We hope you find it interesting and informative. Slide 4 What is Womens Equality Day? Womens Equality Day was instituted by Representative Bella Abzug (D-NY) and was established in 1971. The date, August 26 commemorates the passage of the 19 th Amendment and the Woman Suffrage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave U.S. women full voting rights in 1920. Slide 5 Womens Rights Movement Timeline 1848: The first womens rights convention is held in Seneca Falls, New York. After two days of discussion and debate, the Declaration of Sentiments is signed. 1869: Susan B. Anthony & Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Womens Suffrage Association (NWSA). 1869: Lucy Stone, Henry Blackwell, and others form the American Womens Suffrage Association (AWSA). 1890: The National Womens Suffrage Association (NWSA) and the American Womens Suffrage Association (AWSA) merge to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). As the movements mainstream organization, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) wages state-by-state campaigns to obtain voting rights for women. 1903: The National Womens Trade Union League (WTUL) is established to advocate for improved wages and working conditions for women. 1913: Alice Paul and Lucy Burns form the Congressional Union to work towards the passage of a federal amendment to give women the right to vote. The group is later renamed the National Womens Party. 1919: The federal woman suffrage amendment, originally written by Susan B. Anthony was introduced to Congress in 1878. It was passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate and then sent to the states for ratification. 1920: The 19th Amendment was added to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote, is signed into law. Slide 6 Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) Elizabeth Stanton was the co- founder with Lucretia Mott of the 1848 Women's Rights Convention that was held in Seneca Falls, New York. Stanton and Susan B. Anthony founded the National Woman Suffrage Association. Stanton served as its president for more than 20 years. Slide 7 Womens Rights Convention of 1848 At the Womens Rights Convention, over 100 attendees signed the Declaration of Sentiments. This document called for the attainment of civil, social, political, and religious rights of women. The Declaration is one of the roots of the suffrage movement that ultimately resulted with the 19th Amendment being added to the Constitution. Slide 8 The Backlash This was the period in which editors wrote negative articles regarding the womens call for expanded rights. The articles essentially had a positive impact far beyond anything the organizers could have hoped for. From the backlash, the Womens Equality Movement began along with numerous organizations to aid in the struggle for equality. Slide 9 Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) Susan B. Anthony was a 70 year veteran in the fight for women's rights. Anthony lectured widely in the United States and Europe and wrote a three-volume history of the suffrage movement. Slide 10 National Woman Suffrage Association The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was formed by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1869. The object of the National Woman Suffrage Association are as follows: 1.Secure an amendment to the Constitution in favor of womens suffrage 2.Work for suffrage on the federal level. 3. Press for more extensive institutional changes. Slide 11 Lucy Stone (1818-1893) Lucy Stone was the first woman from Massachusetts to earn a college degree. She established the The Womens Journal and was co- founder of the American Womens Suffrage Association. Slide 12 American Womens Suffrage Association In 1869, the American Womens Suffrage Association (AWSA) was formed by Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and Henry Blackwell. In 1890, the American Womens Suffrage Association and the National Woman Suffrage Association merged to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) Slide 13 Men of the Cause At the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, 32 men signed the Declaration of Sentiments including: Fredrick Douglass and James Mott. On August 18,1920, Congressman Harry Burns cast the final vote in Tennessee that was needed to ratify the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. Slide 14 Alice Paul (1885-1977) Alice Paul helped found the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, which later became known as the National Woman's Party. Alice Paul worked for passage of an equal rights amendment after the 19 th amendment passed. Paul successfully lobbied for wording on gender equality to be included in the preamble to the United Nations Charter and in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Slide 15 Lucy Burns (1879-1966) Lucy Burns began picketing in Washington D.C. in 1916 and helped form the National Womans Party (NWP). As a member of the National Womans Party (NWP) she organized campaigns and was editor of the The Suffragist. Lucy Burns was arrested six times, and spent more time in jail than any other suffragist. Slide 16 Silent Sentinels The National Womens Party organized the "Silent Sentinels," which was comprised of suffragists standing outside the White House holding banners inscribed with incendiary phrases directed towards President Wilson. Despite the danger of bodily harm from frequent mob attacks and imprisonment, the suffragists continued their demonstrations for freedom unabated. While imprisoned, the suffragists staged hunger strikes in order for their demand of being treated like political prisoners be recognized. Slide 17 When the news of the prison conditions and hunger strikes became known, the press, politicians, and the public began demanding the womens release; sympathy for the prisoners brought many to support the cause of women's suffrage. Silent Sentinels (contd.) Slide 18 Perseverance Perseverance on the part of National American Woman Suffrage, National Womans Party, and thousands of women who continuously fought for their beliefs eventually led to victory and on August 26,1920, the 19 th Amendment granted the ballot to American women. Slide 19 Sources Slide 3: http://www.nwhp.org/resourcecenter/equalityday.php & http://www.mith2.umd.edu/WomensStudies/GovernmentPolitics/WhiteHouse/Proclamations/womens-equality- day Slide 4: http://www.legacy98.org/timeline.html Slide 5: http://www.infoplease.com Slide 6: http://www.legacy98.org/move-hist.html Slide 7: http://www.legacy98.org/move-hist.html Slide 8: http://www.biography.com/articles/Susan-Brownell-Anthony-9186331 & http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0906819.html Slide 9: http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/suffrage/history.htm & http://www.rochester.edu/SBA/suffragebios.html Slide 10: http://www.wwhp.org/Activities/Portraits/stone.html Slide 11: http://law.jrank.org/pages/10534/Stone-Lucy.html & http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/20343/American-Woman-Suffrage-Association Slide 12: http://www.nwhm.org/RightsforWomen/menforsuffrage.html & http://www.tnfrw.org/amend.htm Slide 13: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0880260.html Slide 14: http://www.nwhm.org/RightsforWomen/Burns.html & http://www.albanyinstitute.org/education/Struggle%20for%20the%20Vote/StrugglefortheVote.biography.htm Slide 15: http://www.alicepaul.org/alicepaul.htm Slide 16: http://www.alicepaul.org/alicepaul.htm Slide 20 This presentation was prepared by the Office of Diversity and Civil Rights as part of the continuing series of Special Emphasis Program Presentations. 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