As part of its Amending America initiative, the National Archives and Records Administration presents the National Conversation on Rights and Justice: Women’s Rights and Gender Equality on October 21, 2016 at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House at One Bowling Green, New York City, home to the National Archives at New York City and the National Museum of the American Indian.
The “National Conversation on Rights and Justice” is presented in part by AT&T, Ford Foundation, Seedlings Foundation, and the National Archives Foundation.
Related Records in the National Archives
Form Letter, Asking Women to Petition Congress, 1865
This form letter from Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucy Stone asks friends to send petitions for women’s suffrage to their representatives in Congress.
Indictment for illegal voting, 1872
Susan B. Anthony devoted more than fifty years of her life to the cause of woman suffrage. After casting her ballot in the 1872 Presidential election in her hometown of Rochester, New York, she was arrested, indicted, tried, and convicted for voting illegally.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
“Where, after all, do universal rights begin? In small places, close to home…Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere.”
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) of 1972
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) passed Congress in 1972 and was quickly ratified by 35 of the 38 states needed for it to become part of the Constitution. As the seven-year time limit for ratification approached in 1979, Congress and President Jimmy Carter controversially extended the deadline three years. However, no additional states ratified.
Title IX
As part of its Amending America initiative, the National Archives and Records Administration presents the National Conversation on Rights and Justice: Women’s Rights and Gender Equality on October 21, 2016 at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House at One Bowling Green, New York City, home to the National Archives at New York City and the National Museum of the American …
Indictment of Margaret Sanger, 1914
Sanger was indicted for “depositing non-mailable matter for mailing and delivery.” But times had changed, and the public pressured the Government to drop the charges. Sanger lived to see her battle vindicated. In 1965, when Sanger was 81, the Supreme Court ruled in Griswold v. Connecticut that laws banning contraceptive use violated the right to privacy.
Ludtke v Kuhn, 1977
In 1977, Melissa Ludtke, a female sports reporter for Sports Illustrated magazine, filed a civil rights action against Major League Baseball Commissioner for the New York Yankees. The action sought to prevent the New York Yankees from enforcing a ban of accredited female sports reporters from entering the team clubhouse in Yankee Stadium.
Petition of Naturalization for Harriot Stanton Blatch, 1911
The Expatriation Act in 1907, mandated that “any American woman who marries a foreigner shall take the nationality of her husband.” Harriot Stanton, daughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, married a man from the United Kingdom and lost her American citizenship. After his death, she moved back to America and petitioned to become a U.S. Citizen again in 1911.
Margaret Sanger v. United States, 1914
n 1914, Margaret Sanger launched a monthly newsletter called “The Woman Rebel.” She published seven issues, five of which were seized from the mails. Sanger used the publication to inform women about birth control in articles such as “The Prevention of Contraception” and “Are Preventive Means Injurious?”
Minnie Spotted Wolf
In 1943, Minnie Spotted Wolf was the first Native American woman to enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Women’s Reserve. Spotted Wolf served for four years in the Marines as a heavy equipment operator as well as a driver.
Barbara Jordan
Barbara Jordan, first African American woman elected to Congress from Texas, is remembered for her commitment to the U.S. Constitution. Her speech in favor of the impeachment of President Richard Nixon was a key moment in the Watergate investigation. After retiring from Congress in 1979, she remained actively engaged in issues. She gave a rousing speech at the 1992 Democratic National Convention.