-
-
Emma Hart Willard founded the Troy Female Seminary in New York, which was the first school for girls.
-
In Maine, married women are allowed to own and manage property in their own name if their husbands could not manage the land themselves.
-
In Ohio, Oberlin College is the first co-educational college to be established.Some of the early graduates were Lucy Stone and Antoinette Brown.
-
Sarah Grimke begins her career as an abolitionist and an advocate for women’s rights.
-
The first National Female Anti-Slavery Society convention meet in New York City.
-
The Married Women’s Property Act of 1839 is passed. This act grants married women the right to own property in their own names.
-
In Massachusetts, female textile workers form the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association (LFLRA). This was one of the first labor unions for women in the United States.
-
The first women's rights convention is held in Seneca Falls, New York. They draft the "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions" that outlines the main issues and goals for the emerging women's movement.
-
Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery. Over the next ten years she leads many slaves to freedom by the Underground Railroad.
-
Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first female medical doctor in the United States.
-
The first National Women's Rights Convention takes place in Worcester, Massachusetts. This attracts more than 1,000 participants.
-
Former slave, Sojourner Truth delivers the speech entitled "Ain't I a Woman?" before an audience at a women's rights convention in Akron, Ohio.