Women’s Sufferage The birthplace
of womens rights
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal.”
HERSTORY
July 19, 1848, 200 women (and 42 men, including the abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass) packed into the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls to signal to the entire world the birth of the women’s rights movement. In 1917—more than 65 years after that small tea party in Waterloo—New York became one of the first states to grant women the right to vote. This act helped usher in the 19th Amendment in 1920, which granted the right for citizens to vote, regardless of gender.
Seneca Falls
The Women's Rights National Historic Park in Seneca Falls commemorates the birthplace of the women's rights movement. It features exhibits, an inspirational film, and restored historical buildings, including the home of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Wesleyan Chapel where the First Women's Rights Convention was held in 1848.
The women who changed history.
In 1848 women like Jane Hunt, Lucretia Mott, Martha Wright, Mary Ann M’Clintock, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and many others decided that the changes they desired for women would only come to fruition if they fought for them. They fought hard for women to have the simple right to vote, and the fight for equality still occurs to this day.
Did you know?
The year 2020 marked the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which secured women's right to vote in the U.S. Constitution.
In 1968, Shirley Chisholm, New York City educator and civil rights leader, was the first African American woman elected to Congress. As head of the Education and Labor Committee, she was the third-highest-ranking member when she retired. During the 1972 US presidential election, Chisholm became the first woman to run for the Democratic nomination. Visit the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls to learn more about Chisholm and other women who have shaped history.