Women in Profile: The Rising Status of Women in the United States
By Elizabeth Grant
Women in Profile: The Rising Status of Women in the United States By
Elizabeth Grant
Copyright © 2013 by Women’s Rights National Historic Park All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or any other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, and address to “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below. Women’s Rights National Historical Park 136 Fall Street Seneca Falls. NY 131480 Printed in the United States of America.
Contents 1 Women’s Rights...................................................2 2 Women at work....................................................10 3 Progress in Education..........................................16 4 Women in Politics................................................24 1
Women’s Rights Abigail Adams writes to her husband who is at the Continental Congress, asking that the men at work on the Declaration of Independence try to “Remember the Ladies.”
1776
1848
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony form the American Equal Rights Association, an organization dedicated to universal suffrage.
Susan B. Anthony is arrested and brought to trial in Rochester, New York, for trying to vote for Ulysses S. Grant in the 1872 election.
1848 1866 1872
1848
The 1848 Seneca Falls Woman’s Rights Convention is held, marking the beginning of the women’s rights movement in the United States.
1869
1869 The Territory of Wyoming passes the first law in the nation giving women over age 21 the right to vote.
1912
Theodore Roosevelt’s Progressive Bull Moose/ Republican Party is the first national political party to adopt a woman suffrage plank.
The woman suffrage parade in Washington, D.C. draws more than 5000 marchers.
1913
Equal pay act becomes a federal law. The law says employers must give equal pay for men and women who performed the same job duties.
In Eisenstadt v. Baird, the Supreme Court legalizes the use of contraceptives for unmarried women.
1963
1972
1920
1964
The 19th Amendment is ratified and women finally receive the right to vote.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is passed, which barred discrimination by private employers, employment agencies and unions based on race, and gender.
1973
In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decides that a women has a constitutional right to choose whether to have an abortion or carry her pregnancy to term.
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Oh No You Can’t! At the Time of the First Women’s Rights Convention Women Were Not Allowed To:
2 1
own property once married
vote in any election
3
have legal custody of her children if she divorces
4
5
sit on a jury
6
divorce for any case without the consent of legislature
7
sue or be sued in court
attend most colleges 5
Elizabeth Cady Stanton 1815 - 1902
Life and Legacy
men’s legal rights women’s legal rights
Due to her father, Stanton realized how unjustly the law favored men over women Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in 1815 in Johnstown, NY. Daniel Cady, Elizabeth’s father, was a well known Federalist attorney who served in the U.S. Congress and was also a New York Supreme Court justice. Her early exposure to law from her father would influence her lifetime of activism. Unlike many women of her era, Stanton was formally educated. She attended Johnstown Academy, where she studied Latin, Greek, religion, mathematics, science, French, and writing until the age of 16. At the Academy, she enjoyed being in mixed classes where she could compete both intellectually and academically with boys her age and older. Stanton received several academic awards and honors. Upon graduation from Johnstown Academy, Stanton received one of her first tastes of sexual discrimination when she was denied from Union College, despite excelling above some of her male peers, because it was an all male school. Instead Stanton enrolled in the Troy Female Seminary in Troy, New York.
In 1840, Elizabeth married Henry Stanton, an attorney she met through her involvement in the temperance and the abolition movements. The couple had 7 children. In 1847, the couple moved from Boston to Seneca Falls. In 1848, Stanton joined with Lucretia Mott and other women from Seneca Falls, NY, to organize the first women’s rights convention. Over 300 people attended the convention. At the convention, Stanton composed the Declaration of Sentiments, which she modeled on the United States Declaration of Independence. Stanton’s version of the Declaration proclaimed that all men and women were created equal. In 1869, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony founded the National Woman Suffrage Association, knonw as NWSA, an organization dedicated advocating for women’s right to vote. Elizabeth served as president until 1890. Her activism was key in the passage of the 19th ammendment.
To love, honor and OBEY When Elizabeth married Henry Stanton, she had the minster remove the phrase, “Promise to Obey” from their vows.
Seneca Falls, New York was home to the first women’s rights convetion in 1848. 7
Susan B. Anthony 1820 - 1906
Life and Legacy Susan B. Anthony is perhaps the most widely known suffragist of her generation and has become an icon of the women’s suffrage movement. Ignoring opposition and abuse, Susan B. Anthony traveled, lectured, and canvassed across the nation for the vote. Anthony also campaigned for the abolition of slavery, the right for women to own their own property and retain their earnings. Anthony also advocated for education reform and women’s labor organizations. In 1869, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, founded the National Woman Suffrage Association, knonw as NWSA. The organization was dedicated to women’s suffrage. Anthony served as vice-president-atlarge until 1892 when she became president. In 1848 Susan B. Anthony was working as a teacher in Canajoharie, New York and became involved with the teacher’s union when she discovered that male teachers had a monthly salary of $10.00, while the female teachers only earned $2.50 a month. In 1853 at the state teachers’ convention, Anthony called for women to be admitted to
the professions and for better pay for women teachers. She also asked for women to have a voice at the convention and to assume committee positions. In 1859 Anthony spoke before the state teachers’ convention at Troy, N.Y. and at the Massachusetts teachers’ convention, arguing for coeducation (boys and girls together) and claiming there were no differences between the minds of men and women. In 1900, Susan B. Anthony presuaded the University of Rochester to admit women.
4x During Anthony’s teaching career male teachers 4x as much as female teachers
Anthony average 88 speeches a year for 45 years
In 1853 Anthony began to campaign for women’s property rights in New York state. In 1860, largely due to her efforts, the New York State Married Women’s Property Bill became law, which allowed married women to own proprety, keep their own wages and have custody of their children. Anthony’s lifetime of dedication to women’s suffrage, helped to bring about change and led to the passage of the 19th ammendment.
Anthony attempted to vote in the 1872 Presidential election. She was arrested and put on trial in Rochester, New York. 9
Women at Work Female textile workers in Massachusetts join to create the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association (LFLRA) and demand a 10-hour workday.
1844
1848
During WWI women’s wartime work in heavy industry and public service jobs expanded women’s roles in society.
The large shortage of workers caused by WWII opens a wide range of high-paying jobs to women. Almost seven million women enter the workforce.
1848 1917 1941
1872
Congress passes a law to give female federal employees equal pay for equal work.
1934
Lettie Pate Whitehead is the first American woman to serve as director of a major corporation. She served as the director at the Coca-Cola Company.
1961
President John Kennedy establishes the President’s Commission on the Status of Women and appoints Eleanor Roosevelt as the commission’s chairwoman.
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 makes it illegal for employers to pay a women less than a man for the same job.
1963
Katherine Graham: First woman CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Graham was CEO of The Washington Post.
Cynthia M. Trudell becomes the president of Saturn, making her the first women to head a U.S. car company.
1972
1999
1967
1993
Muriel Siebert becomes the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange and the first women to head one of its member firms.
The Family and Medical Leave Act goes into effect, allowing female workers to take employment leave after giving birth.
2010
2010 President Obama signs for equal pay rights in the workplace which allows women to appeal for redress for six months after receiving any discriminatory paycheck.
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The Rise of Women in the Workforce Employment in the 21st Century
35% of wives earned more than their husbands
women hold 49.8% of jobs in the U.S.
40% of businesses in the U.S. are owned by women
Most Common Occupations
1 2 3 4 5
Secretary Registered Nurse Teacher
3.6%
of Fortune 500 companies are ran by women
Cashier Home Health Aid
women earn 77¢ on the male dollar
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Indra Nooyi CEO PepsiCo. On Nooyi’s watch, PepsiCo has forged further into nutrition-focused products, a business that the company is trying to grow to $30 billion in 2020 from about $10 billion in 2010.
Irene Rosenfeld CEO Kraft Foods
Women in the Corner Office
Notable Female Business Leaders
Rosenfeld made a big show of power in 2011 with her decision to split Kraft Foods into two companies, which was a reversal of her previous strategy of expanding through acquisitions.
Oprah Winfrey CEO, and chief creative officer, OWN and Harpo Long time daily talk show host, producer and publisher, Oprah Winfrey is also the CEO and chief creative officer of her own cable network OWN.
Sheryl Sandberg COO Facebook The social media company’s ad revenue could reach nearly $4 billion in 2011, thanks to Facebook’s savvy operating chief. Sandberg also sits on the boards of Disney and Starbucks.
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Progress in Education At 16 years of age, Countess Benigna von Zinzendorf established Bethlehem Female Seminary, the first all-girls boarding school.
1742
1848
Emma Hart Willard founds the Troy Female Seminary in New York, the first endowed school for girls.
Oberlin College is the first college to admit white women as well as African American men and women.
1848 1821 1835
1787
1787 The Young Ladies’ Academy of Philadelphia is established, which is at the time the first all female secondary school in the United States.
1826
The first public high schools for girls opened in New York and Boston.
1837
Mary Lyon founds Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, eventually the first four-year college exclusively for women in the United States.
Mary Hosford, Mary Caroline Rudd and Elizabeth Smith Prall all become the first women to earn their Bachelor’s degrees, from Oberlin College.
1841
The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania opens, and becomes the first medical college that accepted women.
1904 Helen Keller graduates from Radcliffe College, becoming the first blind-deaf person to graduate from college.
1850
1904
1849
1871
1849 Elizabeth Blackwell graduates from New York’s Geneva Medical College and becomes the first woman in the world to earn a medical degree.
Harriette J. Cooke becomes the first woman college professor in the United States appointed full professor with a salary equal to her male peers at Cornell College.
1972
Title IX of the Education Act Amendments bans all discrimination in federally assisted educational programs. This results in more women attending professional schools.
17
It’s a Woman’s World Education in the 21st Century
57%
of bachelor’s degrees are earned by women
62%
of master’s degrees are earned by women
53% of doctoral degrees are earned by women 22
35% of women ages 25-29 have a at least a bachelors degree or higher compared with 27% of men
3 female graduates earned a college diploma for every 2 males in 2010
64% of the National Honor Society’s members are female
57%
of college students were female in 2010 19
Emma Hart Willard 1787-1870
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Life and Legacy Emma Willard was a leader in women’s education reform. She opened Troy Female Seminary, the first school for girls offering them an education equal to -- and perhaps better than -- that received by young men. Emma Hart was born on February 23, 1787 in Berlin, Connecticut. Her father, Samuel Hart, was a prosperous farmer and was a liberal thinker. He encouraged Willard in her studies. However, schooling at that time was very limited for women. Emma continued her education by studying college books of male relatives. No colleges anywhere in the world admitted women in the early 1800s. As Willard studied these college textbooks, she became aware of what women were missing. This epiphany would be a driving force in Emma’s life’s work. At age 15, she attended the Berlin Academy and within a few years, began teaching there. After a short period of teaching in Massachusetts, Miss Hart was offered the position of principal at the women’s academy in Middlebury, Vermont in 1807.
Emma married the town physician, Dr. John Willard, a widower with four young children in 1809. Although he supported her passion for teaching, it was acceptable for married women to be teachers. She left her career and had a child.
Emma Hart Willard founded Troy Female Seminary Troy, New York in 1821
Due to financial problems, Willard opened a school in her home. The family moved Troy, New York where Emma Opened Troy Female Seminary in 1821. The school was quite expensive, costing $200 annually for room, board, and tuition. At this price, only the wealthiest of families could afford to send their daughters. Willard’s husband died in 1825, just four years after the school began, and continued to run it. Emma Willard died in 1870, leaving behind her the legacy of Troy Female Seminary, which was renamed The Emma Willard School on its 25th anniversary. Emma Willard’s work on behalf of female education remains one of the founding documents of American women’s history.
girls enrolled Troy Female Seminary when it was opened
botany
geology
astronomy
physiology
Troy Seminary taught very rigorous courses 21
Elizabeth Blackwell 1821-1910
26
Some suggested that she should disguise herself as a man to go to medical school
Life and Legacy Born in England in 1821, Elizabeth moved to America when she was a child. After her father’s early death, she took up teaching to support the family. Elizabeth found the work uninspiring. and she craved an occupation that satisfied her intellect. Elizabeth had no interest in medicine at first but she changed her mind after a dying friend confided that her suffering would have been more bearable had she been attended by a female physician. She suggested that Elizabeth pursue a medical degree. Blackwell consulted with physicians on how to become a doctor. They responded that it was impossible for a women. Elizabeth arranged to live with a physicians, where she received some medical training, the use of a medical library, and the opportunity to study Greek and Latin. However, the most formidable obstacle remained: admission to a medical school. Determined, she applied to all the medical schools in New York and Philadelphia, as well as many others schools in the north east.
She was accepted only by Geneva Medical College in western New York state in 1847. The faculty, assuming that the all-male student body would never agree to a female student, had students vote on her admission. As a joke, they voted “yes,” and she gained admittance to Geneva Medical College. Two years later, in 1849, Elizabeth became the first woman to receive an M.D. degree from an American medical school. She worked in clinics in London and Paris for two years, and then studied midwifery at La Maternité in Paris. Elizabeth established a practice in New York City, but had few patients. In 1853, she opened a free dispensary to provide medical treatment to poor women and children. In 1857, with the assistance of her sister, Dr. Emily Blackwell and Dr. Marie Zakrzewska, she opened the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, a full-scale hospital with beds for medical and surgical patients. It became a medical college for women in 1867 and taught training for female doctors.
Elizabeth Blackwell was rejected by 29 medical schools because she was female
15
women enrolled in Blackwell’s Medical College when it opened 21
Women in Politics Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She served until 1919 and was reelected again in 1940.
1916
1848
Hattie Wyatt Caraway, a Democrat, was the first women elected to the Senate. Caraway was appointed after the death of her husband, Senator Thaddeus Caraway.
Eleanor Roosevelt is appointed by President Harry Truman to serve on the United States delegation to the U.N.
1848 1932 1945
1924
Nellie Ross of Wyoming was elected as governor. Miriam Ferguson of Texas was also elected governor the same year.
1933
Frances Perkins is the first woman cabinet member. Appointed by Franklin Roosevelt, she served as Secretary of Labor for over 12 years.
1948
Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, becomes the first woman elected to both houses of Congress.
Sandra Day O’Connor becomes the first woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court.
1981
Janet Reno became the first women U.S. attorney general. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton.
1993
1984
Geraldine Ferraro is the first woman nominated for vice-president of a major U.S. political party when she is selected as Democrat Walter Mondale’s running mate.
Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female Speaker of the U.S. House.To this date, Pelosi is the highest-ranking female political leader in the history of America.
2007
1997
Madeleine K. Albright becomes the first female Secretary of State. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton.
2007
Hillary Rodham Clinton is the first and only female front-runner for a major political party’s presidential nomination.
23
Cracking the Political Glass Ceiling Political Leadership in the 21st Century
3 women hold 78 seats in the House of Representatives
18% of congress is female 30
supreme court justices are women
women currently hold 20 seats in the United States Senate
6
states have female governors
8
of President Barack Obama’s cabinet members are women 25
Jeanette Rankin Representative from Montana Rankin was the first woman in Congress. She was one of only fifty members of Congress who voted against entry into World War I and the only member who voted against declaring war on Japan in after Pearl Harbor.
Hillary Clinton Senator and Secretary of State
Leading Ladies
Clinton was a key leader in the U.S. response to the Arab Spring, including advocating the military intervention in Libya. She is the most widely traveled secretary during her time in office.
Female Political Leaders Who Have Left Their Mark on American Politics
Sandra Day O’Conner Supreme Court Justice O’Connor was the first women appointed to the Supreme Court. She frequently sided with the court’s conservative bloc. In her later years, she often had the swing vote in many cases.
Condolezza Rice Secretary of State Rice has dedicated her department to “Transformational Diplomacy,” with a mission of cultivating and sustaining democratic, well-governed states in the Middle East and around the world.
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Anniversary Celebration! Women in Profile: The Rising Status of Women in the United States is brought to you by the Women’s Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, New York in celebration of the 165th anniversary of the first women’s rights convention. The anniversary takes place on July 19th - 20th 2013. To view a full list of anniversary events planned for July 19th - 22th 2013, visit our website, www.nps.gov/wori. For more information visit us: Women’s Rights National Historical Park 136 Fall Street Seneca Falls. NY 13148
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