Timeline for women rights in America

By DeDixon

  • The first sexually integrated jury hears cases in Albany, New York.

  • American colonies based their laws on the English common law, which was summarized in the Blackstone Commentaries. It said, “By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in the law? The very being and legal existence of the woman is suspended during t

  • All states pass laws which take away women’s right to vote.

  • United States Constitution ratified. The terms “persons,” “people” and “electors” are used, allowing the interpretation of those beings to include men and women.

  • The first state (Mississippi) grants women the right to hold property in their own name, with their husbands’ permission.

  • At Seneca Falls, New York, 300 women and men sign the Declaration of Sentiments, a plea for the end of discrimination against women in all spheres of society.

  • In Missouri v. Celia, a Slave, a Black woman is declared to be property without a right to defend herself against a master's act of rape

  • The 14th Amendment is passed by Congress (ratified by the states in 1868), saying “Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective members, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians n

  • The first woman suffrage law in the U.S. is passed in the territory of Wyoming.

  • The 15th Amendment receives final ratification, saying, “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.” By its text, w

  • The first sexually integrated grand jury hears cases in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The chief justice stops a motion to prohibit the integration of the jury, stating: “It seems to be eminently proper for women to sit upon Grand Juries, which will give them the bes

  • Bradwell v. Illinois, 83 U.S. 130 (1872): The U.S. Supreme Court rules that a state has the right to exclude a married woman (Myra Colby Bradwell) from practicing law.

  • Minor v Happersett, 88 U.S. 162 (1875): The U.S. Supreme Court declares that despite the privileges and immunities clause, a state can prohibit a woman from voting. The court declares women as “persons,” but holds that they constitute a “special category

  • Through special Congressional legislation, Belva Lockwood becomes first woman admitted to try a case before the Supreme Court.

  • The first state (Wyoming) grants women the right to vote in all elections.

  • By now, every state has passed legislation modeled after New York’s Married Women’s Property Act (1848), granting married women some control over their property and earnings.

  • Muller v State of Oregon, 208 U.S. 412 (1908): The U.S. Supreme Court upholds Oregon’s 10-hour workday for women. The win is a two-edged sword: the protective legislation implies that women are physically weak.

  • Margaret Sanger tests the validity of New York’s anti-contraception law by establishing a clinic in Brooklyn. The most well-known of birth control advocates, she is one of hundreds arrested over a 40-year period for working to establish women’s right to c

  • New York v. Sanger, 222 NY 192, 118 N.E. 637 (Court of Appeals 1917), National Archives, Records of the U.S. Supreme Court, RG 267 (MSDME-CDS C 15:298). Margaret Sanger wins her suit in New York to allow doctors to advise their married patients about birt

  • The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified. It declares: “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 sex.”

  • National Woman’s Party proposes Constitutional amendment: “Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and in every place subject to its jurisdiction. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

  • Radice v. New York, a New York state case, upholds a law that forbade waitresses from working the night shift but made an exception for entertainers and ladies' room attendants.

  • American Indian suffrage granted by act of Congress.

  • The National Recovery Act forbids more than one family member from holding a government job, resulting in many women losing their jobs.

  • United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries, 13 F. Supp.334 (E.D.N.Y 1936) aff’d 86 F 2d 737 (2nd Cir. 1936), won judicial approval of medicinal use of birth control.

  • The U.S. Supreme Court upholds Washington state’s minimum wage laws for women.

  • The Fair Labor Standards Act establishes minimum wage without regard to sex.

  • Fay v. New York, 332 U.S. 261 (1947), the U.S. Supreme Court says women are equally qualified with men to serve on juries but are granted an exemption and may serve or not as women choose.

  • In Hoyt v. Florida, 368 U.S. 57 (1961): The U.S. Supreme Court upholds rules adopted by the state of Florida that made it far less likely for women than men to be called for jury service on the grounds that a “woman is still regarded as the center of home

  • The Equal Pay Act is passed by Congress, promising equitable wages for the same work, regardless of the race, color, religion, national origin or sex of the worker.

  • Title VII of the Civil Rights Act passes including a prohibition against employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.

  • Weeks v. Southern Bell, 408 F. 2d. 228 (5th Cir. 1969), marks a major triumph in the fight against restrictive labor laws and company regulations on the hours and conditions of women's work, opening many previously male-only jobs to women.

    In Griswold v Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965), the Supreme Court overturns one of the last state laws prohibiting the prescription or use of contraceptives by married couples.

  • Executive Order 11246 prohibits sex discrimination by government contractors and requires affirmative action plans for hiring women.

  • In Bowe v. Colgate-Palmolive Company, 416 F. 2d 711 (7th Cir.1969), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rules that women meeting the physical requirements can work in many jobs that had been for men only.California adopts the nation’s first “no fault” di

  • Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corporation, 400 U.S. 542 (1971): The U.S. Supreme Court outlaws the practice of private employers refusing to hire women with pre-school children.Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71 (1971): The U.S. Supreme Court holds unconstitutional

  • Title IX (Public Law 92-318) of the Education Amendments prohibits sex discrimination in all aspects of education programs that receive federal support.In Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438 (1972), the Supreme Court rules that the right to privacy encompas

  • Pittsburgh Press v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations, 413 U.S. 376 (1973): The U.S. Supreme Court bans sex-segregated “help wanted” advertising as a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended.Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)

  • Housing discrimination on the basis of sex and credit discrimination against women are outlawed by Congress.Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur, 414 U.S. 632 (1974), determines it is illegal to force pregnant women to take maternity leave on the assum

  • Taylor v. Louisiana, 419 U.S. 522 (1975), denies states the right to exclude women from juries.

  • General Elec. Co v. Gilbert, 429 U. S. 125 (1976), the Supreme Court upholds women’s right to unemployment benefits during the last three months of pregnancy.Craig v. Boren, 429 U.S. 190 (1976): The U.S. Supreme Court declares unconstitutional a state law

  • The Pregnancy Discrimination Act bans employment discrimination against pregnant women.

  • The U.S. Supreme Court rules that excluding women from the draft is constitutional.Kirchberg v. Feenstra, 450 U.S. 455, 459-60 (1981), overturns state laws designating a husband “head and master” with unilateral control of property owned jointly with his

  • In Roberts v. U.S. Jaycees, 468 U.S. 609 (1984), sex discrimination in membership policies of organizations, such as the Jaycees, is forbidden by the Supreme Court, opening many previously all-male organizations (Jaycees, Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions) to women.

  • In Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57 (1986), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a hostile or abusive work environment can prove discrimination based on sex.

  • Johnson v. Santa Clara County, 480 U.S. 616 (1987): The U.S. Supreme Court rules that it is permissible to take sex and race into account in employment decisions even where there is no proven history of discrimination but when evidence of a manifest imbal

  • In Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490 (1989), the Supreme Court affirms the right of states to deny public funding for abortions and to prohibit public hospitals from performing abortions.

  • Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc., 510 U.S. 17 (1993) The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the victim did not need to show that she suffered physical or serious psychological injury as a result of sexual harassment.The Family and Medical Leave Act goes into e

  • Congress adopts the Gender Equity in Education Act to train teachers in gender equity, promote math and science learning by girls, counsel pregnant teens, and prevent sexual harassment.The Violence Against Women Act funds services for victims of rape and

  • United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996), affirms that the male-only admissions policy of the state-supported Virginia Military Institute violates the Fourteenth Amendment.

  • Elaborating on Title IX, the Supreme Court rules that college athletics programs must actively involve roughly equal numbers of men and women to qualify for federal support.

  • Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America agrees to pay $34 million to settle an E.E.O.C. lawsuit contending that hundreds of women were sexually harassed.Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742 (1998) and Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524

  • CBS Broadcasting agrees to pay $8 million to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit by the E.E.O.C. on behalf of 200 women.United States v. Morrison, 529 U.S. 598 (2000). The U.S. Supreme Court invalidates those portions of the Violence Against Women Act per

  • Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs 538 U.S. 721 (2003). The Supreme Court rules that states can be sued in federal court for violations of the Family Leave Medical Act.

  • Hillary Clinton becomes the first First Lady to be elected to public office as a U.S. Senator from New York.Condoleezza Rice becomes the first black female Secretary of State.Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education 544 U.S. 167 (2005). The Supreme Court

  • The Supreme Court upholds a ban on the "partial-birth" abortion procedure. The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, a federal law passed in 2003, was the first to ban a specific abortion procedure.Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. The 2005 r

  • Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female speaker of the House.

  • Hillary Clinton is the only First Lady to run for president.

  • Hillary Clinton becomes Secretary of State on January 21, 2009. She is the third woman in U.S. history to hold this position. After four years, she stepped down.

  • Sonia Sotomayor is nominated as the 111th U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Sotomayor becomes the first Hispanic American and the third woman to serve.Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act allows victims, usually women, of pay discrimination to file a complai

  • The Affordable Health Care Act is signed into law. Under this law, private health insurance companies must provide birth control without co-pays or deductibles. The law requires private insurance companies to cover preventive services.Elena Kagan is confi

  • The ban against women in military combat positions is removed; this overturned a 1994 Pentagon decision restricting women from combat roles.Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. The new bill extends coverage to women of Native American tribal

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