Women's Equality Day
Forty-One Years Ago
What happened on the 50th anniversary of passing the 19th amendment? “August 26, 1970, marked the 50th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted American women full suffrage. On that anniversary the National Organization for Women (NOW) called upon women nationwide to ‘strike for equality.’ Women in 40 cities organized demonstrations to protest the fact that women still did not have equal rights. In New York City, 50,000 women marched down Fifth Avenue to demonstrate their support of the women’s movement and equal rights. Former NOW president Betty Friedan, feminist Gloria Steinem, and U.S. Rep. Bella Abzug addressed the crowd. The event was extraordinarily successful in demonstrating the breadth of support for women’s rights. In 1971 Congress officially recognized August 26 as Women’s Equality Day.”
[www.britannica.com/Womens-Equality-Day]
Joint Resolution of Congress, 1971
Designating August 26 of each year as Women’s Equality Day
WHEREAS, the women of the United States have been treated as second-class citizens and have not been entitled the full rights and privileges, public or private, legal or institutional, which are available to male citizens of the United States; and
WHEREAS, the women of the United States have united to assure that these rights and privileges are available to all citizens equally regardless of sex; and
WHEREAS, the women of the United States have designated August 26, the anniversary date of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, as symbol of the continued fight for equal rights: and
WHEREAS, the women of United States are to be commended and supported in their organizations and activities,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that August 26th of each year is designated as Women’s Equality Day, and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration of that day in 1920, on which the women of America were first given the right to vote, and that day in 1970, on which a nationwide demonstration for women’s rights took place.
Proclamation
August 26, 2010 — 90th Anniversary of Ratification of Nineteenth Amendment
City of Johnstown, New York
Office of the Mayor
Whereas, the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution marked the culmination of almost two centuries of American women’s struggle to gain one of the most cherished civil liberties and fundamental responsibilities of citizenship: the right to vote; and
Whereas, since passage of the Joint Resolution of Congress in 1971, on August 26 we affirm the indomitable spirit and fortitude of those tenacious early advocates who worked to secure women’s suffrage in the United States; and
Whereas, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, one of five organizers of the First Women’s Rights Convention in 1848, was influenced since childhood by bearing witness to the disproportionate fairness of laws in application to women; and
Whereas, Johnstown native, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, lead an unrelenting fight to bring to public scrutiny the importance of equality rights by advocating for the enfranchisement of women; and
Whereas, the women of the United States have united to assure that full rights and privileges are available to all citizens equally regardless of gender, and are to be commended and supported in their organizations and activities; and
Whereas, it was the belief of our Foremothers who fought and died in the cause of securing women’s suffrage that future generations of women would use their hard-won vote to fight for full equality and justice for all women in their pursuit of securing fairness.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that I, Sarah J. Slingerland, Mayor of the City of Johnstown, do hereby proclaim that August 26, 2010, the 90th anniversary of the constitutional affirmation of women’s right to vote in the United States, be celebrated as Women’s Equality Day in the City of Johnstown, New York, birthplace of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the City of Johnstown, New York to be affixed this 26th day of August 2010.
——Sarah J. Slingerland, Mayor
Proclamation
August 26, 2009 — 89th Anniversary of Ratification of Nineteenth Amendment
City of Johnstown, New York
Office of the Mayor
WHEREAS, a Joint Resolution of Congress in 1971 designated August 26 of each year as Women’s Equality Day on the anniversary date of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, as symbol of the continued fight for equal rights: and
WHEREAS, August 26, 2009 marks the 89th anniversary of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States constitution granting women the right to vote in all elections; and
WHEREAS, the women of the United States have united to assure that full rights and privileges are available to all citizens equally regardless of sex, and are to be commended and supported in their organizations and activities; and
WHEREAS, the right to vote was achieved after a 72-year struggle which formally commenced in 1848 at the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York; and
WHEREAS, one of the five 1848 convention organizers was Johnstown native, Elizabeth Cady Stanton; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Stanton endured the criticism of her colleagues and contemporaries in demanding suffrage for women; and
WHEREAS, the City of Johnstown played a key role in the life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the fight for women’s suffrage; and
WHEREAS, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony wrote the third volume of the History of Woman Suffrage while residing in Johnstown in 1884;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Mayor of the City of Johnstown proclaims August 26th Women’s Equality Day in the City of Johnstown and encourages all residents to celebrate the rich history of the City in the pursuit of women’s suffrage.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the City of Johnstown, New York to be affixed this 26th day of August, 2009.
—— Sarah J. Slingerland, Mayor
Click here for the White House Proclamations in recognition of Women’s Equality Day
from Barack Obama 2009 and 2010.
Click here for the White House Proclamations in recognition of Women’s Equality Day
from George W. Bush 2001-2008.
Click here for the White House Proclamations in recognition of Women’s Equality Day
from William J. Clinton 1993-2000.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton Hometown Association
P.O. Box 753
Johnstown, NY 12095-0753
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