Women's Rights Chronology

Anne Jemima Clough England, promoted higher education for women, is born.

Ref: 5

Feb 15

Susan B. (Brownell) Anthony, suffragist: 1st American woman to be pictured on a coin: the Susan B. Anthony dollar, is born.

Ref: 4

1821

Dec 19

Mary Ashton Livermore American reformer/women's suffrage leader, is born.

Ref: 5

1822

Dec 04

Frances Crabbe England, feminist founded Anti-Vivisection Society, is born.

Ref: 5

1825

Mar 16

Women who felt oppressed by their employers gathered at Palmo’s Opera House in New York City, not for opera, but for speeches and music about their troubles.

Ref: 4

Sep 04

Dadabhai Naoroji first Indian in British parliament, is born.

Ref: 5

1826

Mar 25

Matilda Gage, American women's rights advocate, is born.

Ref: 70

1832

Nov 26

Mary Edwards Walker, physician, women’s right leader: 1st female surgeon in U.S. Army; first woman to receive U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor, is born.

Ref: 4

1836

Apr 24

Jeltje de Bosch Kemper Dutch feminist, is born.

Ref: 5

1842

Oct 28

Anna Elizabeth Dickinson abolitionist, women’s rights advocate, orator, author: ‘American Joan of Arc’; is born.

Ref: 4

1845

Jan 15

Ella Flagg Young first woman president (National Educational Association), is born.

Ref: 5

1846

Feb 21

Sarah G. Bagley becomes the first female telegrapher as she takes charge at the newly opened telegraph office in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Ref: 5

May 23

Arabella Mansfield (Belle Aurelia Babb) first woman admitted to legal profession in US, is born.

Ref: 4

Nov 25

Carry Nation scourge of barkeepers & drinkers, is born.

Ref: 5

1847

Anna Howard Shaw, one of the most influential leaders of the women's suffrage movement, is born.

Ref: 70

Jun 11

Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett, leader of English women's movement, is born.

Ref: 5

1848

Apr 09

Helena Lange German feminist, is born.

Ref: 5

Jun 19

The first Women's Rights Convention convenes in Seneca Falls, NY.

Ref: 2

Jul 19

(and 20th) The first Women's Rights Convention convenes in Seneca Falls, N.Y, organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Ref: 2

Jul 26

First Woman's Rights Convention (Senecca Falls NY).

Ref: 5

Aug 03

A women's rights convention is held in Rochester, New York demanding suffrage and property rights.

Ref: 62

1849

Dec 11

Ellen Key Swedendish theory/author/feminist (Courageous Woman), is born.

Ref: 5

1850

Annie Peck mountain climber; is born.

Ref: 4

Oct 23

Women demand right to vote, own property, etc. at Women's Rights convention in Worcester, MA.

Ref: 10

Nov 19

The first life insurance policy issued to a woman is purchased by 36-year-old Carolyn Ingraham of Madison, New Jersey.

Ref: 4

1851

Jan 25

Sojourner Truth addresses first Black Women's Rights Convention (Akron).

Ref: 5

May 28

Sojourner Truth attends Women's Rights Convention.

Ref: 5

1852

Dec 29

Emma Snodgrass is arrested in Boston for wearing pants

Ref: 5

1853

Jan 17

Alva Vanderbilt Beaumont women's rights advocate & activist, is born.

Ref: 5

Sep 06

Women's Rights Convention met (NYC).

Ref: 5

Sep 15

In her home state of New York, Antoinette L. Brown, 28, became pastor of the Congregational church in South Butler -- making her the first woman to be formally ordained to the pastorate in the United States.

Ref: 5

1857

Jul 05

Clara Zetkin German women's rights advocate, is born.

Ref: 5

Sep 14

Alice Stone Blackwell, American women's suffragist and editor, is born.

Ref: 70

1858

Apr 18

Dhondo Keshav b. Karve, Indian social reformer; supported the education of women, is born.

Ref: 70

Jul 14

Emmeline Pankhurst, British founder of the Women's Social and Political Union, is born.

Ref: 2

1859

Jan 09

Carrie Lane Chapman Catt, women's rights leader/founder (League of Women Voters), is born.

Ref: 68

1860

Mar 01

Suzanna Salter first US female mayor/temperance leader, is born.

Ref: 5

1867

May 20

British parliament rejects John Stuart Mills law on women suffrage.

Ref: 5

Jul 15

Maggie Lena Walker first woman bank founder and president: opened St. Luke Penny Savings Bank [Richmond VA: Nov 2, 1903]; women's rights/black pride advocate; is born.

Ref: 4

Aug 15

2nd Reform Bill extends suffrage in England.

Ref: 5

1868

Mar 21

The first club for professional women was formed in New York City by writer, Jennie June Croly. The club was called Sorosos.

Ref: 4

Jun 30

Mabel Cratty, American social worker and head of the Y.W.C.A., is born.

Ref: 70

Sep 09

Mary Hunter Austin, American author and feminist, was born

Ref: 5

1869

Jan 19

Susan B. Anthony is elected president of the Equal Rights Association. (XDG, p 4A, 1/19/01)

Ref: 83

Elizabeth Cady Stanton becomes 1st woman to testify before Congress.

Ref: 5

May 15

National Woman Suffrage Association forms.

Ref: 5

Jun 27

Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-born American anarchist, feminist and birth control advocate, is born.

Ref: 2

Dec 10

Governor John Campbell signs the bill that grants women in Wyoming Territory the right to vote as well as hold public office.

Ref: 2

1870

Victoria Woodhull and her sister Tennessee Claflin open the doors of Woodhull, Claflin & Co., the nation's first brokerage firm run solely by women.

Ref: 3

Feb 12

Women in the Utah Territory gain the right to vote.

Ref: 70

Esther Morris becomes the world's first female justice of the peace.

Ref: 2

Feb 17

In South Pass, Wyoming Territory, Esther Hobart Morris is appointed the first female justice of the peace in U.S. history by her county’s commissioners.

Ref: 3

Jun 30

Ada Kepley becomes first female law college graduate.

Ref: 5

Aug 17

Mrs Esther Morris becomes the 1st woman magistrate (South Pass, Wyoming).

Ref: 5

1871

The first woman, Victoria Woodhull, addresses a committee of Congress, the House Judiciary Committee. She argues that the 14th Amendment gives women the right to vote and urges Congress to pass legislation implementing woman's suffrage.

Ref: 87

Jun 15

Phoebe Couzins is first woman graduate of a US collegiate law school.

Ref: 5

1872

Mar 22

Illinois becomes the first state to require sexual equality in employment.

Ref: 5

Jun 18

Woman's Sufferage Convention held at Merchantile Liberty Hall

Ref: 5

Nov 01

Susan B. Anthony attempts to register to vote in Rochester. To the surprise of many, she is allowed to do so.

Ref: 87

Nov 05

Susan B. Anthony votes in the federal election-- the straight Republican ticket-- and on a 2 to 1 vote, the election inspectors agree to accept her vote.

Ref: 87

Nov 18

Susan B. Anthony is arrested at her home and charged with "illegal voting."

Ref: 87

1873

Jan 17

(and 18th): Susan B. Anthony is tried in Canandaigua, New York before Judge Ward Hunt. Anthony is barred from testifying and Judge Hunt directs the jury to find her guilty. She is sentenced to pay a fine of $100 and the costs of prosecution. She refuses to pay.

Ref: 87

Jan 24

Susan B. Anthony is indicted on charges of illegal voting. She pleads "not guilty."

Ref: 87

Mar 17

Chard Somerset first woman Cabinet minister (1929-31), is born.

Ref: 5

Mar 17

Margaret Bondfield British Labour leader/1st woman cabinet member, is born.

Ref: 5

Jun 18

Suffragist Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election. (The fine was never paid.)

Ref: 70

Dec 23

Sarah Moore Grimke antislavery/women’s rights advocate; dies at age 81.

Ref: 70

1874

Jan 12

Susan B. Anthony submits a two-page petition to Congress asking that the "unjust fine" for illegal voting be remitted. Congress does not act on her petition.

Ref: 87

Nov 18

The National Women's Christian Temperance Union is started in Cleveland, Ohio.

Ref: 5

1876

Jun 15

Sara Spencer (R) is first woman to address a US presidential cconvention.

Ref: 5

Jul 04

Susan B. Anthony distributes "A Woman's Declaration of Rights" in Philadelphia.

Ref: 87

Aug 24

Paulina Kellogg Davis, American feminist and social reformer, dies at age 63.

Ref: 70

Nov 29

Nellie Taylor Ross, the first woman governor (Wyoming) and first woman director of the US Mint is born.

Ref: 62

1877

Sep 11

Rosika Schwimmer, Hungarian-born feminist and pacifist, is born.

Ref: 70

Nov 07

First state penitentiary for women was opened

Ref: 62

1878

Jan 10

Senator Arlen A. Sargent of California introduces a constitutional amendment: "The right of citizens to vote shall not be abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex." This same amendment would be introduced each session of Congress over the next 41 years.

Ref: 87

1879

Jul 28

Lucy Burns, American woman suffragist, is born.

Ref: 70

Sep 14

Margaret Sanger nurse, feminist: birth control advocate; first president of International Planned Parenthood; is born.

Ref: 4

1880

Sep 22

Dame Christabel Pankhurs, English women's suffragist

Ref: 70

Nov 11

Lucretia Mott women’s rights activist: one of the founders of the movement; teacher, minister, antislavery leader; dies.

Ref: 5

1881

Jun 13

Lois Weber first US woman film director (What Do Men Want?), is born.

Ref: 5

Jun 25

Crystal Eastman, suffragist, is born.

Ref: 2

1882

Jan 18

Sylvia Pankhurst English feminist, is born.

Ref: 5

Apr 06

Rose Schneiderman U.S. women’s rights activist: organized 1913 strike of 25,000 women blouse makers & ILGWU (International Ladies Garment Workers Union); president of WTUL; only woman member of F.D.R.’s Labor Advisory Board; is born.

Ref: 4

Aug 28

Belle Benchley, the first female zoo director in the world, who directed the Zoological Gardens of San Diego, is born.

Ref: 2

Nov 10

Frances Perkins, first woman cabinet member--Secretary of Labor, is born.

Ref: 2

1883

Jan 04

Johanna Westerdijk botanist/Netherlands first female profressor (Utrecht, 1917-52), is born.

Ref: 5

Sep 30

Nora Stanton Barney, American civil engineer, architect and suffragist, is born.

Ref: 70

1884

Mar 06

Over 100 suffragists, led by Susan B. Anthony, present President Chester A. Arthur with a demand that he voice support for female suffrage.

Ref: 2

Apr 01

Florence Blanchfield, an American nurse who was the first woman to become a fully ranked officer of the U.S. Army, is born.

Ref: 70

Aug 30

Third Avenue Theatre in New York becomes first to employ woman ushers.

Ref: 10

1885

Alice Paul ERA advocate/founder (National Woman's Party), is born.

Ref: 5

Feb 04

Cairine Ray Wilson Montréal, first female Canadian senator (appointed), is born.

Ref: 5

Jul 12

Maria Weston Chapman, American abolitionist, dies at age 78.

Ref: 70

1887

Jan 14

Abigail Kelley Foster, American feminist/abolitionist, dies at age 76.

Ref: 70

Apr 04

Susanna M. Salter became the first woman mayor in the U.S. She was duly elected by the people of Argonia, KS. Ms. Salter won by a two-thirds majority but didn’t even know she was in the running ’til she went into the voting booth. It seems that her name was submitted by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Susanna M. Salter received $1 for her year as mayor.

Ref: 4

Jul 17

Dorothea Dix, American social reformer and humanitarian, dies at age 85.

Ref: 70

1888

May 11

The Woman's Missionary Union, Auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention, had its inception in Richmond, Virginia, when delegates from 15 states met to form a general women's organization within the denomination.

Ref: 5

1889

Apr 18

Jessie Street Australian pro women's/aborigine rights fighter, is born.

Ref: 5

1890

Jan 02

Alice Sanber becomes the first woman to work on the staff of a US president. She works for Rutherford B. Hayes. (XDG, p 4A, 1/2/2001)

Ref: 83

Mar 20

The General Federation of Womens' Clubs is founded.

Ref: 5

Mar 27

Universal suffrage in Spain.

Ref: 10

1891

May 22

First motion picture shown to National Federation of Women's Clubs.

Ref: 5

Nov 10

First Woman's Christian Temperance Union meeting held (in Boston).

Ref: 5

1893

Sep 19

New Zealand becomes the first nation to grant women the right to vote.

Ref: 2

Oct 18

Lucy Stone, American pioneer in the women's rights movement, dies at age 75.

Ref: 70

Nov 07

Colorado granted women the right to vote.

Ref: 70

1894

Feb 05

Female suffrage organization in Amsterdam forms.

Ref: 5

1895

Sep 24

First round-the-world trip by a woman on a bicycle (took 15 months).

Ref: 5

1896

Nov 03

Idaho becomes first state to grant vote to women, but only men voted on it.

Ref: 10

1897

M H Cannon becomes first woman state senator in US (Utah).

Ref: 5

Mar 17

Emilie Grace Briggs became the first woman in America to graduate from a Presbyterian theological school, when she received her Bachelor of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary, in New York City.

Ref: 5

Dec 14

Margaret Chase Smith (Rep/Sen-R-ME), 1st woman elected to both houses of U.S. Congress, is born.

Ref: 4

1898

Mar 18

Matilda Gage, American women's rights advocate, dies at age 71.

Ref: 70

1900

(Captain) Mildred McAfee (Horton) is born. Credits: first Director of US Navy WAVES [Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service); Wellesley College President; Distinguished Service Medalist [1945].

Ref: 4

1902

Feb 01

China's empress Tzu-hsi forbids binding woman's feet.

Ref: 5

Apr 02

Esther Morris,2 American suffragist and public official, dies at age 87.

Ref: 70

Oct 26

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the pioneering American women's rights leader and social reformer, dies.

Ref: 70

1903

Mar 02

The Martha Washington Hotel opened for business in New York City. The hotel featured 416 rooms and was the first hotel exclusively for women.

Ref: 4

Oct 10

Emmeline Pankhurst begins her quest for female equality in Britain forming Union in Manchester.

Ref: 10

Nov 02

England's first women's paper, The Daily Mail, first published; not the Northcliffe paper.

Ref: 10

Nov 19

Carrie Nation attempts to address the Senate.

Ref: 5

Dec 09

Norwegian parliament vote unanimiously for female suffrage.

Ref: 5

Dec 16

Women ushers were employed for the first time at the Majestic Theatre in NY City.

Ref: 4

1904

Sep 28

A woman is placed under arrest for smoking a cigarette on New York's Fifth Avenue.

Ref: 2

1905

Feb 17

Frances Willard becomes first woman honored in National Statuary Hall.

Ref: 5

Oct 13

Emmeline Pankhurst holds first woman's suffragette meeting in London.

Ref: 10

1906

Mar 07

Finland becomes the first country to give women the right to vote, decreeing universal suffrage for all citizens over 24, however, barring those persons who are supported by the state.

Ref: 2

Mar 13

Susan B. (Brownell) Anthony suffragist: first American woman to be pictured on a coin: the Susan B. Anthony dollar; dies at age 85 in Rochester NY.

Ref: 17

May 13

Susan B. Anthony dies at her home in Rochester. Ten thousand mourners come to her funeral.

Ref: 87

1907

Jan 25

Julia Ward Howe is first woman elected to National Institute of Arts & Letters.

Ref: 5

Mar 15

Finland is the first European country to give women the right to vote.

Ref: 5

Women in Norway win the right to vote as long as taxes have been paid.

Ref: 2

1908

The Sullivan Ordinance bars women from smoking in public facilities in the United States.

Ref: 2

Jan 21

New York City enacted an ordinance that made smoking by women in public punishable by a fine of from $5 to $25 and up to 10 days in jail

Ref: 4

Mar 08

The House of Commons, London, turns down the women's suffrage bill.

Ref: 2

Jul 13

Women first compete in Olympic games

Ref: 62

1909

May 05

Pauline Staegeman German feminist, dies.

Ref: 5

Dec 19

American socialist women denounce suffrage as a movement of the middle class.

Ref: 2

1910

Sep 02

Alice Stebbins Wells is admitted to the Los Angeles Police Force as the first woman police officer to receive an appointment based on a civil service exam.

Nov 08

This is the first Washington State election in which women could vote.

Ref: 5

1911

Apr 30

Portugal approves woman suffrage.

Ref: 5

Jun 09

Carrie Nation temperance leader: took a hatchet to bottles in saloons; dies at age 64.

Ref: 4

Aug 02

Arabella Mansfield (Belle Aurelia Babb) (first woman admitted to legal profession in U.S.; dean of schools of art and music at DePauw University; helped found Iowa Woman Suffrage Society) dies.

Ref: 4

Nov 21

Suffragettes storm Parliament in London. All are arrested and all choose prison terms.

Ref: 2

1912

Mar 01

Isabella Goodwin, the 1st US woman detective, is appointed in New York NY.

Ref: 5

1913

Jan 02

National Woman's Party forms.

Ref: 5

Mar 03

Ida B Wells-Barnett demonstrates for female suffrage in Washington DC.

Ref: 5

Apr 03

British suffragette Emily Pankhurst sentenced to 3 years in jail.

Ref: 5

May 07

British House of Commons rejects woman's right to vote.

Ref: 5

1914

Feb 17

Women suffragettes in UK turn violent;set fire to Lawn Tennis Club, break windows of Home Sec.

Ref: 10

Mar 10

Suffragettes in London damages painter Rokeby's Venus of Velasquez.

Ref: 5

May 06

British House of Lords rejects women suffrage.

Ref: 5

1915

Jan 12

The United States House of Representatives rejected a proposal to give women the right to vote.

Ref: 70

Jun 05

Danish women get the vote

Ref: 62

Oct 23

25,000 women march in New York City, demanding the right to vote.

Ref: 5

Dec 12

House of Representatives rejects proposal to give women the right to vote.

Ref: 5

1916

Anne C A I van Diest Belgian physician/feminist, dies at 73.

Ref: 5

Feb 11

Emma Goldman arrested for lecturing on birth control.

Ref: 5

Feb 16

Jeltje de Bosch Kemper Dutch feminist, dies at 79.

Ref: 5

Apr 08

Norway approves active & passive female suffrage.

Ref: 5

Apr 17

Sirimavo Bandaranaike world's first woman PM (Sri Lanka, 1960..77), is born.

Ref: 5

May 15

Catherine East, American feminist, is born.

Ref: 70

Oct 16

Margaret Sanger and Ethel Byrne open the first U.S. birth control clinic in New York, but it was shut down ten days later and the women were imprisoned.

Ref: 70

Oct 24

Henry Ford becomes first industrialist to award equal pay to women $5.00 per day.

Ref: 2

Oct 26

Margaret Sanger arrested for obscenity (advocating birth control).

Ref: 5

Nov 06

Lifelong feminist and pacifist Jeanette Rankin of Montana became the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress.

Ref: 2

Nov 07

Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to Congress.

Ref: 70

1917

Mar 04

Jeannette Rankin (Representative-Republican-MT) becomes first female member of Congress.

Ref: 5

Mar 21

First female US Navy Petty Officer is Loretta Walsh.

Ref: 5

Mar 28

The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) is founded, Great Britain's first official service women.

Ref: 2

Apr 02

Jeannette Pickering Rankin is sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ref: 2

Aug 28

Ten suffragists were arrested as they picketed the White House.

Ref: 70

Oct 27

20,000 women march in a suffrage parade in New York. As the largest state and the first on the East Coast to do so, New York has an important effect on the movement to grant all women the vote in all elections.

Ref: 2

Nov 10

41 women are arrested in suffragette demonstrations near the White House.

Ref: 5

Dec 07

Helen Gurley Brown editor-in-chief (Cosmopolitan), is born.

Ref: 5

1918

Jan 10

The House of Representatives passes women's suffrage.

Ref: 2

Britain grants women (30 & over) the vote.

Ref: 5

Jul 25

Annette Adams sworn in as first woman district attorney of US, CA.

Ref: 5

Dec 14

Woman first vote in British national election.

Ref: 10

1919

Feb 21

Mary Edwards Walker physician, women’s right leader: first female surgeon in U.S. Army; first woman to receive U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor; dies.

Ref: 4

Jul 02

Anna Howard Shaw, one of the most influential leaders of the women's suffrage movement, dies.

Ref: 70

Sep 27

Democratic National Committee votes to admit women

Ref: 5

First Distinguished Service Medal awarded to a woman.

Ref: 5

Nov 28

American-born Lady Astor is elected the first female member of the British Parliament. (XDG, p 4A, 11/28/2002)

Ref: 83

Nov 30

Women cast votes for the first time in French legislative elections.

Ref: 2

Dec 01

Lady Astor is sworn in as the first female member of the British Parliament.

Ref: 70

1920

Jan 05

GOP women demand equal representation at the Republican National Convention in June.

Ref: 2

Feb 08

Swiss men vote against women's suffrage.

Ref: 5

The League of Women Voters is formed in Chicago in celebration of the imminent ratification of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. Maude Wood Park is its first president.

Ref: 2

Apr 13

First woman US Civil Service Commissioner, Helen Hamilton appointed.

Ref: 5

Apr 13

Liam Cosgrave leader (Fine Gael Party), is born.

Ref: 5

Apr 26

The League of Women Voters is founded in Cleveland.

Jun 10

The Republican convention in Chicago endorses woman suffrage.

Ref: 2

Jul 24

Bella Abzug (Stavitsky), feminist, attorney, the first Jewish woman elected to the US House of Representatives (Rep-D-NY), is born.

Ref: 2

Aug 27

Mrs. Fay Bridges became 1st woman to vote in a Florida election

Ref: 62

Nov 02

Charlotte Woodward, who signed the 1848 Seneca Falls Declaration calling for female voting rights, casts her ballot in a presidential election. All Men & Women are Created Equal.

Ref: 2

1921

Feb 04

Betty Friedan (Goldstein), Peoria IL, feminist writer (Feminine Mystique), founder of the National Organization for Women [NOW], is born.

Ref: 5

Apr 24

First municipal elections for men & women in Belgium.

Ref: 5

Jun 20

Alice M. Robertson of OK presided over the US House of Representatives. She was the first woman to accept the task, even though it was only for a few minutes.

Ref: 4

Nov 02

Margaret Sanger and Mary Ware Dennett form the American Birth Control League.

Ref: 2

1922

Feb 15

Clara [G Meijer-]Wichmann German/Dutch anarchist/feminist, dies at 36.

Ref: 5

Feb 18

Helen Gurley Brown Portland ME, author/publisher (Cosmopolitan), is born.

Ref: 5

Mar 24

Dorothy Irene Height president (national council of negro women), is born.

Ref: 5

May 10

Dr Ivy Williams is first woman to be called to the English Bar

Ref: 2

Oct 03

Rebecca L. Felton, D-Ga., became the first woman to be seated in the U.S. Senate. She was appointed to serve out the remaining term of Sen. Thomas E. Watson.

Ref: 70

Oct 11

The first woman FBI "special investigator" is appointed (Alaska Davidson).

Ref: 5

Nov 21

Rebecca L. Felton of Georgia was sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Ref: 70

Nov 26

Rebecca L. Felton of Georgia was sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Ref: 70

Dec 04

Lucille Atcherson, becomes first woman legation secretary-US foreign service.

Ref: 5

1923

Mar 02

In Italy, Mussolini admits that women have a right to vote, but declares that the time is not right.

Ref: 2

Jun 03

In Italy, dictator Benito Mussolini grants women the right to vote.

Ref: 2

Jul 18

Women granted equality in divorce cases by the British Matrimonial Causes Act

Ref: 62

1924

Sep 08

Alexandra Kollontai of Russia becomes 1st woman ambassador.

Ref: 5

Nov 04

Nellie Tayloe Ross and Miriam Ferguson are elected first and second women governors (Wyoming and Texas).

Ref: 2

Nov 30

Shirley Chisholm (D-Rep-NY), first black congresswoman/presidential candidate, is born.

Ref: 5

1925

Jan 05

Nellie T. Ross succeeded her late husband as governor of Wyoming, becoming the first female governor in U.S. history.

Ref: 5

Jan 08

First all-female US state supreme court appointed, Texas.

Ref: 5

Jan 10

Miriam (Ma) Ferguson is sworn in as Texas Governor, nation's 2nd woman governor.

Ref: 5

Dec 05

Wilhelmina E Drucker [Lensing] Dutch feminist, dies at 78.

Ref: 5

1926

Mar 09

Bertha Landes elected first woman mayor of Seattle.

Ref: 5

1927

Apr 12

The British Cabinet comes out in favor of voting rights for women.

Ref: 2

Jul 25

Midge Decter St Paul Minn, anti woman's lib (Liberated Woman...), is born.

Ref: 5

1928

Feb 27

Mabel Cratty, American social worker and head of the Y.W.C.A., dies.

Ref: 4

May 07

England lowers age of women voters from 30 to 21.

Ref: 5

Mussolini ends woman's rights in Italy.

Ref: 5

Emmeline Pankhurst, British founder of the Women's Social and Political Union, dies at age 69.

Ref: 70

Jul 08

Crystal Eastman, American lawyer, suffragist and writer, dies at age 47.

Ref: 70

1929

Aug 05

Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett, English women's suffrage leader, dies at age 82.

Ref: 70

Dec 06

Turkey introduces female suffrage.

Ref: 5

1930

May 13

Helena Lange German feminist, dies.

Ref: 5

May 19

White woman win voting rights in South-Africa.

Ref: 5

1931

Nov 13

Hattie Caraway (D-AK) appointed first US woman senator.

Ref: 5

1932

Jan 12

Ophelia Wyatt Caraway, a Democrat from Arkansas, becomes the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

Ref: 3

Oct 22

Anna Elizabeth Dickinson abolitionist, women’s rights advocate, orator, author: ‘American Joan of Arc’; dies just a week shy of her 90th birthday.

Ref: 4

1933

Feb 28

First female in cabinet Francis Perkins appointed Secretary of Labor.

Ref: 5

1934

Mar 25

Gloria Steinem Toledo OH, feminist/publisher (Ms Magazine), is born.

Ref: 5

Dec 15

Maggie Lena Walker first woman bank founder and president: opened St. Luke Penny Savings Bank [Richmond VA: Nov 2, 1903]; women's rights/black pride advocate; dies at age 69.

Ref: 4

Dec 31

Helen Richey becomes first woman to pilot an airmail transport.

Ref: 5

1935

First election to allow women to vote in Turkey.

Ref: 5

Apr 02

Mary Hirsch, becomes 1st woman licensed as a horse trainer

Ref: 5

Apr 30

World Congress for Women's Rights concludes in Istanbul.

Ref: 5

Nov 25

Gloria Steinem Toledo Ohio, femnist/writer (Ms), is born.

Ref: 5

1936

Jan 06

Barbara Hanley became Canada's first woman mayor (Webbwood, Ontario).

Ref: 5

1937

K. Elizabeth Ohi became the first Japanese woman lawyer as she received her degree from John Marshall Law School in Chicago, IL.

Ref: 4

Jun 25

Ed ‘The Strangler’ Lewis was a little angry. He denounced the idea of lady wrestlers in the ring. Lewis said that women ’rasslers threatened to turn the sport of professional wrestling into a burlesque show.

Ref: 4

Woman’s Day, was first published. It was a magazine designed expressly for the A&P store chain.

Ref: 4

1938

Frances Moulton elected first woman president of a US national bank.

Ref: 5

Nov 08

Crystla Bird Fauset of Pennsylvania, becomes the first African-American woman to be elected to a state legislature.

Ref: 2

1939

Jan 30

Eleanor Smeal feminist/president (NOW), is born.

Ref: 5

Mar 27

Ruth Ashton, general secretary (Royal College of Midwives), is born.

Ref: 5

Jul 30

Eleanor Smeal heads National Organization for Women, is born.

Ref: 5

Dec 16

The National Women's Party urges immediate congressional action on equal rights.

Ref: 2

1940

May 14

Emma Goldman US anarchists/feminist/author (Living My Life), dies at age 70.

Ref: 5

1941

Jul 03

Gloria Allred feminist attorney, is born.

Ref: 5

First woman jockey in North America, Anna Lee Wiley rides in Mexico.

Ref: 5

1943

Mar 26

1st woman to receive air medal (US army nurse Elsie S Ott)

Ref: 2

Jul 08

Faye Wattleton, women's rights advocate, is born.

Ref: 2

1945

Mar 08

International Women's Day is first observed.

Ref: 5

Patricia Ireland social activist: president of NOW, is born.

Ref: 4

Oct 21

Women in France were allowed to vote for the first time.

Ref: 5

1947

Mar 09

Carrie Lane Chapman Catt women's rights leader/founder (League of Women Voters), dies at age 88.

Ref: 68

Sep 24

The World Women's Party meets for the first time since World War II.

Ref: 2

1948

Jul 07

6 female reservists become first women sworn into regular US Navy.

Ref: 5

Aug 03

Rosika Schwimmer, Hungarian-born feminist and pacifist, dies at age 70.

Ref: 70

Sep 13

Margaret Chase Smith (R-Me) elected senator, first woman to serve in both houses of Congress.

Ref: 5

Sep 18

Margaret Chase Smith becomes the first woman elected to the Senate without completing another senator's term when she defeats Democratic opponent Adrian Scolten. Smith is also the only woman to be elected to and serve in both houses of Congress.

Ref: 2

Dec 03

First US woman army officer not in medical corps sworn-in.

Ref: 5

1949

First foreign woman ambassador received in US (S V L Pandit India).

Ref: 5

1950

Mar 15

Alice Stone Blackwell, American women's suffragist and editor, dies at age 92.

Ref: 5

May 03

The Chinese Communist government bans polygamy and the sale of women.

Ref: 17

1953

May 18

The first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound, Jacqueline Cochran, piloted an F-86 Sabrejet over CA at an average speed of 652.337 miles-per-hour.

Ref: 4

1955

Mar 16

Josephine Kroesen appointed as first Dutch female judge.

Ref: 5

1956

Feb 27

Female suffrage in Egypt.

Ref: 5

Aug 09

South African women demonstrate against pass laws.

Ref: 5

Oct 29

NOW, the National Organization of Women founded.

Ref: 10

1958

Feb 13

Dame Christabel Pankhurs, English women's suffragist, dies at age 77.

Ref: 70

1959

Feb 01

Swiss males vote against voting rights for women.

Ref: 5

1960

Mar 06

The Swiss grant women the right to vote in municipal elections.

Ref: 2

1961

Jan 07

Clarice Baright, 1st woman admitted to American Bar Association, dies at 74.

Ref: 5

1962

Aug 19

Kerstin Hesselgren first woman in Swedish parliament, dies at 90.

Ref: 5

Nov 09

Dhondo Keshav b. Karve, Indian social reformer; supported the education of women, dies at age 104.

Ref: 70

Dec 03

Edith Spurlock Sampson sworn-in as first US black female judge.

Ref: 5

1963

Jun 10

President Kennedy signs into law a bill mandating equal pay to women.

Ref: 17

1964

Jan 09

Halide Edib Adevar/Salih Turkish feminist (Handan), dies at about 80.

Ref: 5

Feb 08

Representative Martha Griffiths address gets civil rights protection for women being added to the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Ref: 5

Feb 09

Halide Edib Adevar/Salih Turkish feminist (Handan), dies at about 80.

Ref: 5

Apr 16

Geraldine Mock of US is first woman to fly solo round the world.

Ref: 5

1966

Sep 06

Margaret Sanger nurse, feminist: birth control advocate; first president of International Planned Parenthood; dies.

Ref: 4

Oct 29

The National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed.

Ref: 4

Dec 22

Lucy Burns, American woman suffragist, dies at age 87.

Ref: 70

1967

Dec 28

Muriel Siebert is first women to own a seat on New York Stock Exchange.

Ref: 5

1970

Jan 23

Dolle Mina burns her bra in Amsterdam.

Ref: 5

Esther Morris becomes the world's first female justice of the peace.

Ref: 2

May 15

Elizabeth Hoisington & Anna Mae Mays named first female US generals.

Ref: 5

Aug 10

McSorley's bar in NY admits first female; anti-sex discrimination in public places becomes law.

Ref: 10

Aug 26

National women's strike in U.S.

Ref: 10

1971

Jan 17

Nora Stanton Barney, American civil engineer, architect and suffragist, dies at age 87.

Ref: 70

Feb 07

Woman's suffrage finally comes to Switzerland.

Ref: 17

Feb 28

The male electorate in Lichtenstein refuses to give voting rights to women.

Ref: 2

Florence Blanchfield, an American nurse who was the first woman to become a fully ranked officer of the U.S. Army, dies.

Ref: 70

Oct 12

The House of Representatives passes the Equal Rights Amendment 354-23.

Ref: 2

Nov 06

Democrat Janet Gray Hayes of San Jose becomes first woman mayor of major American city.

Ref: 10

Nov 28

The Anglican Church ordains the first two women as priests.

Ref: 2

1972

Jan 25

Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to U.S. Congress, announces candidacy for president.

Ref: 2

Mar 22

Congress sent the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution to the states for ratification. (It fell three states short of the 38 needed for approval.)

Ref: 5

Aug 11

Ref: 2

Oct 25

Susan Roley and Joanne Pierce become first women FBI agents.

Ref: 10

Dec 15

The Commonwealth of Australia orders equal pay for women.

Ref: 2

1973

Mar 02

The US Navy begins training women as pilots. (XDG, p 4A, 3/2/2001)

Ref: 83

Mar 26

Susan Shaw, is 1st woman in 171 years in London's Stock exchange

Ref: 2

Apr 30

Women's tennis groups end disputes over sanctioning tournaments.

Ref: 5

Jun 11

Women were licensed to box or wrestle in PA following a ruling by the Justice Department of the State of PA.

Ref: 4

1974

Jan 23

First edition of women's magazine "Story".

Ref: 5

Nov 05

Ella T. Grasso was elected governor of Connecticut, the first woman to win a gubernatorial office without succeeding her husband.

Ref: 5

1975

Jan 08

Ella Grasso becomes the governor of Connecticut. She was the first woman to become a governor of a state without a husband preceding her in the governor’s chair.

Ref: 4

May 16

Japaneses climber Junko Tabei, 35, becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Ref: 70

1976

Feb 12

Roberta A Kankus became the first woman licensed to operate a nuclear power plant. (XDG, p 4A, 2/12/2000)

Ref: 83

Mar 09

First female cadets accepted to West Point Military Academy.

Ref: 5

Jun 28

Women entered the Air Force Academy for the first time on this day. President Gerald R. Ford had actually opened the door by signed legislation [Oct 7, 1975] allowing women to enter the nation’s military academies. The first Air Force Academy class with women graduated in May 1980.

Ref: 4

Dec 14

Dutch first Chamber condemns Dutch Liberal/social-democratic abortion laws.

Ref: 5

1977

Apr 16

The ban on women attending West Point is lifted.

Ref: 2

Jul 09

Alice Paul women’s rights activist; founder of National Women’s Party [1913]; dies at age 69.

Ref: 4

Dec 19

Nellie Taylor Ross first woman governor, dies at 101.

Ref: 5

1978

May 11

Margaret A Brewer is first female general in the US Marine Corps.

Ref: 5

Succumbing to pressure from women's groups, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that it would alternate men’s and women’s names in the naming of hurricanes.

Ref: 4

Jul 09

Nearly 100,000 demonstrators march on Wash DC for ERA.

Ref: 5

Nov 01

The first women report for sea duty on US Navy non-combat ships

Ref: 62

1979

Apr 04

Jane M Byrne (D), elected 1st woman mayor of Chicago Ill.

Ref: 5

Apr 14

Susan Horvath, of Pennsylvania, crowned America's Young Woman of the Year.

Ref: 5

Jul 21

National Women's Hall of Fame (Seneca Falls, NY) dedicated.

Ref: 5

Aug 21

Florida's first woman Chief of Police, Sue Wegner, was sworn in as chief of Mineola

Ref: 62

1980

Jan 08

NCAA decides to sponsor women's championships in 5 sports.

Ref: 5

May 21

Ensign Jean Marie Butler became the first woman to graduate from a US service academy as she accepted her degree and commission from the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut.

Ref: 5

1981

Jul 30

(or 31st) Arnette Hubbard installed as first woman president of the Natl Bar Assn

Ref: 5

1982

Jun 24

Equal Rights Amendment goes down to defeat.

Ref: 5

1983

Feb 07

First female secretary of transportation sworn-in (Elizabeth Dole).

Ref: 5

Aug 08

Jury in KC, Mo, awards TV anchorwoman Christine Craft $500,000 in sex discrimination suit against KMBC-TV (later overturned).

Ref: 5

Nov 08

Martha Layne Collins (D) elected 1st female governor of Kentucky.

Ref: 5

Dec 13

Martha Layne Collins is inaugurated as Kentucky's 1st female governor.

Ref: 5

1984

The Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution opposing the ordination of women for ministry in the Baptist Church.

Ref: 5

Jul 19

First female to captain a 747 across the Atlantic (Lynn Rippelmeyer).

Ref: 5

Aug 16

The U.S. Jaycees voted to admit women to full membership in the organization.

Ref: 4

Dec 27

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was the woman most admired by the American people, according to a Gallup Poll. It marked the third consecutive year that the `Iron Lady' received that honor.

Ref: 4

1985

Mar 03

The group, Women Against Pornography awards one of its dubious ‘Pig Awards’ to ... Huggies Diapers! The activists said that the diaper TV ads had “crossed the line between eye-catching and porn.”

Ref: 4

Apr 20

Karyn Marshall of NYC lifted 303 lbs in a clean-and-jerk lift.

Ref: 5

May 18

Patricia Kimbrell, the first woman admitted to the ranks of the United States Jaycees, was installed as president of the Dallas chapter of that civic organization.

Ref: 4

1986

Jun 20

The New York Times announced its intention to use the honorific Ms. in both news articles and editorials

Ref: 62

1987

Feb 09

Twenty years after the first woman was admitted to the New York Stock Exchange, the Exchange Luncheon Club decided to install a ladies rest room.

Ref: 4

Jul 07

Kiwanis Clubs end men-only tradition, vote to admit women.

Ref: 5

Jul 18

Molly Yard elected new pres of Natl Org for Women

Ref: 5

1988

Apr 22

Women are allowed to compete in the Little 500 bicycle race in Bloomington, Indiana, for the 1st time.

Ref: 5

Sep 29

Stacy Marie Allison becomes first U.S. woman to scale Mt. Everest.

Ref: 10

1990

May 17

European court rules pension rights for both men & women

Ref: 5

Jul 24

Ms. Magazine hits the newstands again after an 8 month haitus

Ref: 5

1991

Nov 27

Nadine Strossen is first female president of the ACLU.

Ref: 5

1992

Mar 12

Ida Oosterbaan Dutch founder (Women Action Committee), dies.

Ref: 5

First Belgian woman (Ingrid Baeyens) to ascend Mount Everest.

Ref: 5

Mona Van Duyn is the first woman to be named the nation's poet laureate by the Library of Congress. (XDG, p 4A, 6/14/2002)

Ref: 83

1994