Women’s Equality Day honors fight for equality Published Aug. 13, 2007 By Master Sgt. Kimberly Mann 66th Air Base Wing SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany -- Aug. 26, 1920 is an important date for the women's rights movement in the United States. On that day, Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby, with the approval of President Woodrow Wilson, signed the 19th Amendment into law, granting women's suffrage -- the right to vote. Susan B. Anthony frankly stated the point of women's suffrage, "There never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers." The suppressed status of women in U.S. society provoked the long fight for women's suffrage that involved many people. The women's suffrage movement was not a one-time protest or petition to congress in 1920. The movement formally started in 1848, when the first Women's Rights Convention was held in Seneca Falls, N.Y. The initial approach to addressing women's suffrage was directed toward individual state legislation. However, in 1913, the Congressional Union was formed for the exclusive purpose of securing passage of a federal amendment for women's suffrage. When the movement began, women did not vote, hold elective office, attend college or earn a living. They could not make legal contracts, divorce or gain custody of their children. The "Declaration of Sentiments," contracted in the first Women's Rights Convention, included the first formal demand made in the U.S. for women's right to vote. Preceding events surrounding the passage of the 19th Amendment included protests, petitions, press releases, speeches and civil disobedience. A pivotal argument for women's suffrage in 1920 included women serving in the military during World War I. Women served in the Army and Navy Nurse Corps, the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard. The total female force topped to 34,000 by the end of World War I. While at the end of the war demobilization of women was the rule, it was hard to argue that women could serve a government organization that defended the right to vote, yet had no right to vote. It was this argument that brought President Wilson to approve the 19th Amendment. Women from every part of the U.S. were involved. The more famous women included Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, Lucretia Mott, Adella Hunt Logan, Ida Wells-Barnett and Mary Church Terrell. Men also supported the cause. During the first convention, 32 men signed the "Declaration of Sentiments." Other men who were involved throughout the movement included Senator S.C. Pomeroy of Kansas, Henry Blackwell and Senator A.A. Sargent of California. The successful passage of the 19th Amendment marked a crucial milestone in the fight for women's equality in the U.S. In 1971, the US Congress designated Aug. 26 as Women's Equality Day in remembrance of women's suffrage and the continuing efforts toward women's equality in the U.S. For more information about the women's suffrage movement, contact the Military Equal Opportunity Office or visit http://womenshistory.about.com, http://www.pbs.org/stantonanthony or http://www.historychannel.com/suffrage.