August 26, 1970: Women's Equality Day

On January 9th, 1918, President Wilson announced his support for the suffrage, followed by the passing of Susan B. Anthony Amendment in the congress the next day. On June 4th 1919 the senate passed the amendment by one vote. Finally, On August 26th, 1920, the Amendment became the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, after Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify.
On the fiftieth anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment, August 26th, 1970, over 20,000 marchers gathered on the streets of Manhattan to demonstrate for equal rights for women. It was the largest women's rights rally since the suffragists, and the Strike succeeded beyond expectations. As the marchers gathered in Battery Park and marched down the Fifth Avenue, thousands gathered in Washington D.C. to walk down the Connecticut Avenue in demonstration. In L.A., 500 marchers gathered to march down, although confined to the sidewalk. Among the leading marchers were Gloria Steinem, a journalist and founder of the New York Magazine and social and political activist; Betty Friedan, a primary founder and the first president of the National Organization for Women, also the author of The Feminine Mystique; and congresswomen Bella Abzug, who a year later securely declared August 26th as the 'Women's Equality Day'. ☆

Jin Shin, EVHP Staff