Women's Commission - Photo Gallery

Alice Paul

    She is credited as one of the leading figures responsible for the passage of the 19th Amendment (woman suffrage) to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.

   After the 1920 victory for the federal amendment, Paul became involved in the struggle to introduce and pass an Equal Rights Amendment.

    The Amendment was finally passed in Congress in 1970 and sent to the states to ratify; however, the number of states necessary never ratified within the specified time limit and the Amendment failed.

Anna Pauline Murray

An activist for civil rights since the 1930's, her memo to Senators in 1964 was said to have helped the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This act included the word "sex" as an amendment giving women and African Americans legal protection from discrimination.

Eleanor Roosevelt

An activist for civil rights and women and wife of President Franklin Roosevelt. She also broke precedent to hold press conferences, travel to all parts of the country, give lectures and radio broadcasts, and express her opinions candidly in a daily syndicated newspaper column, "My Day."

Margaret Sanger

Indicted in 1915 for sending birth control information through the mails and arrested the next year for conducting a birth control clinic in Brooklyn, Sanger gradually won support from the public and the courts. She opened a clinic (1923) in New York City and it functioned until the 1970s. She was also noted for organizing the first American (1921) and international (1925) birth control conferences and forming (1923) the National Committee on Federal Legislation for Birth Control.

Rosie the Riveter

She was the icon during World War II that encouraged women to take on nontraditional jobs, so the men could go off to war. Women were carpenters, engineers, welders and so much more.

Susan B. Anthony

In 1854, she devoted herself to the antislavery movement. In 1872, she demanded that women be given the same civil and political rights that had been extended to black males under the 14th and 15th amendments. Thus, she led a group of women to the polls in Rochester to test the right of women to vote. She campaigned endlessly for a federal woman suffrage amendment through the National Woman Suffrage Association (1869-90) and the National American Woman Suffrage Association (1890-1906) and by lecturing throughout the country.

Sojourner Truth

She fought for the desegregation of public transportation in Washington, DC during the Civil War. She refused to face the indignities of Jim Crow segregation on street cars and had the Jim Crow car removed from the Washington D. C. system. Sojourner Truth brought a local street to a standstill when a driver refused her passage. With the support of the crowd she forced the driver to carry her. During her legendary life, she challenged injustice wherever she saw it. She was an abolitionist, women's rights activist and preacher.

Harriet Tubman

She made the 90 mile trip to the Mason-Dixon line with the help of contacts along the Underground Railroad. She had to hike through swamps and woodland. She was nicknamed the "Moses of her people" for leading them to freedom. In all, Harriet made 19 trips on the Underground Railroad and freed more than 300 slaves.

Suffrage Parade

A Woman's Suffrage parade was held in New York City in 1913 to support the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution.

Maya Angelou

She is recognized as one of the great voices of contemporary literature and as a remarkable Renaissance woman. Being a poet, educator, historian, best-selling author, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, producer and director, Dr. Angelou continues to travel the world making appearances, spreading her legendary wisdom. She has authored twelve best-selling books including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and her current best-seller A Song Flung Up to Heaven.

Gloria Steinem

As a writer and an activist, she has been a leader in the late-twentieth-century women's rights movement. Among her many achievements is the founding of Ms. magazine - the first national women's magazine run by women.

Welders

During WWII women took on many jobs while the men were away at war. Two female welders pose for the camera on their break.

Betty Friedan

In 1966 she cofounded the National Organization for Women (NOW), which was dedicated to achieving equality of opportunity for women. NOW helped promote Title IX, which passed in congress in 1971 giving women gender equity in sports programs and educational institutions receiving federal monies. Friedan is a founding member of the National Women's Political Caucus (1971), she was a leader of the campaign for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. She is known for her book The Feminine Mystique.