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seneca falls convention
the Seneca Falls Convention on Women’s Rights kicked off the first wave of American women’s rights activism. At its conclusion, 68 women and 32 men had signed a document calling for American women to be extended the same civil and political rights that American men enjoyed, including suffrage. -
13th Amendment
With the adoption of the 13th amendment, the United States found a final constitutional solution to the issue of slavery. The 13th amendment, along with the 14th and 15th, is one of the trio of Civil War amendments that greatly expanded the civil rights of Americans. -
14th Amendment
The amendment grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" which included former slaves who had just been freed after the Civil War. Known as the "Reconstruction Amendment," it forbids any state to deny any person "life, liberty or property, without due process of law" or to "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment, granting African-American men the right to vote, The amendment reads: “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Despite the amendment, by the late 1870s, various discriminatory practices were used to prevent African Americans from execising their right to vote, especially in the South. After decades of discrimination, -
Colorado women's suffrage referendum, 1893
Colorado women won suffrage in an 1893 referendum, backed by a Populist administration and by some Republicans. First state for women's sufferage. Pathed path for other states to follow but was just the beginning of a very long process. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
Plessy was one of the first cases to challenge segregation.the Supreme Court Plessy v. Ferguson decision ruled against him to install a “separate but equal” doctrine which became the benchmark for segregation The “separate but equal” doctrine was quickly extended to cover many areas of public life and encouraged many states to launch a large offensive to legally relegate all African Americans to an inferior status. Strict laws were passed to forcibly separate blacks from whites in every sector -
NAACP Founded
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was one of the earliest and most influential civil rights organization in the United States. During its early years, the NAACP focused on legal strategies designed to confront the critical civil rights issues of the day. They called for federal anti-lynching laws and coordinated a series of challenges to state-sponsored segregation in public schools. -
19th Amendment
the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote—a right known as woman suffrage.Stanton and Mott, along with Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) and other activists, formed organizations that raised public awareness and lobbied the government to grant voting rights to women. After a 70-year battle, these groups finally emerged victorious with the passage of the 19th Amendment. -
executive order 10450
Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10450, which banned gay men and lesbians from working for any agency of the federal government.The president ordered all private contractors doing business with the government to fire their gay employees, as well. And he urged our allies overseas to conduct similar purges in their countries. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the separate but equal doctrine in American public schools.The 11-page decision — much shorter than other major decisions of the era, and written by Chief Justice Earl Warren in purposefully unemotional language — was firm and clear: "We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."The decision was unanimous. The reaction to it was not. -
one, inc v. olesen
In One, Inc., v. Olesen, a fledgling Los Angeles–based magazine seeking to advance the interests of homosexuals sued after the Post Office declared it obscene and banned its distribution through the mail. Against long odds, facing the full force of the federal government, and with little support from the civil libertarians of the day, the small publication persevered to the Supreme Court—and its unexpected victory there opened up legal space for other dissenting and unpopular opinions to thrive. -
illinois becomes first state to repeal its sodomy laws
The first ever gay rights organization in the country was founded in Illinois, and the state was also the first to decriminalize sodomy. But laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation proved to be a more difficult battle. -
24th Amendment
The United States ratified the 24th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting any poll tax in elections for federal officials. At the ceremony in 1964 formalizing the 24th Amendment, President Lyndon Johnson noted that: "There can be no one too poor to vote." Thanks to the 24th Amendment, the right of all U.S. citizens to freely cast their votes has been secured. -
civil rights act of 1964
The Civil Rights Law, a Johnson legacy, affected the nation profoundly as it for the first time prohibited discrimination in employment and businesses of public accommodation on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. -
voting rights act of 1965
The resolution, empowered the federal government to oversee voter registration and elections in counties that had used tests to determine voter eligibility or where registration or turnout had been less than 50 percent in the 1964 presidential election. It also banned discriminatory literacy tests and expanded voting rights for non-English speaking Americans.The law's effects were wide and powerful. By 1968, nearly 60 percent of eligible African Americans were registered to vote in Mississippi -
stonewall inn riots
Stonewall is regarded as the single most important event that led to the modern movement for gay and lesbian civil rights.Stonewall marked the first time that gays and lesbians as a group forcefully and vocally asserted their rights to equality under the law. The events of Stonewall opened the door for millions of gay and lesbian Americans to begin pressing for full and equal civil rights. Indeed, within a few short years of Stonewall, thousands of gay and lesbian civil rights organizations had -
title xi
Most people think Title IX only applies to sports, but athletics is only one of ten key areas addressed by the law. These areas include: access to higher education, career education, education for pregnant and parenting students, employment, learning environment, math and science, sexual harassment, standardized testing, and technology. -
apa removed homosexuality as a mental illness
What’s noteworthy about this is that the removal of homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses was not triggered by some scientific breakthrough. There was no new fact or set of facts that stimulated this major change. Rather, it was the simple reality that gay people started to challenge it. They gained a voice and began to make themselves heard. And the APA reacted with truly astonishing speed. -
Don't ask, don't tell
When it went into effect on October 1, 1993, the policy theoretically lifted a ban on homosexual service that had been instituted during World War II, though in effect it continued a statutory ban. -
Same-sex marriage in Massachusetts
When Julie and Hillary Goodridge walked into City Hall and applied for a marriage license 10 years ago, they did it with a police escort at their side. As the plaintiffs in the landmark case – Goodridge v. Department of Public Health – that brought same-sex marriage to the first state in the country, the Goodridges, six other couples, and their attorney Mary Bonauto broke an historic barrier on May 17, 2004 that is still being fought for today. -
dont ask dont tell repeal
From that point on, gay men and women have been able to serve their country openly, honestly, and, for the first time, without punishment.Allowing gay and lesbian men and women to proudly serve their country has proved to be not only a moral victory but also a victory in the United States’ long-term security interests. The country will no longer lose countless qualified men and women each year due to this discriminatory policy. -
defense of marriage act
By striking down Section 3 of DOMA, the Supreme Court has affirmed that all loving and committed couples who marry deserve equal legal respect and treatment. It marks an enormous victory for equal justice under the law and ends DOMA’s two-tiered system for marriage,
