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Women's Rights 1900's.
The National Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) is established to advocate for improved wages and working conditions for women. -
Women's Rights 1910's.
Margaret Sanger opens the first U.S. birth-control clinic in Brooklyn, N.Y. Although the clinic is shut down 10 days later and Sanger was arrested, she eventually wins support through the courts and opens another clinic in New York City in 1923. -
Women's Rights 1920's
The Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor is formed to collect information about women in the workforce and safeguard good working conditions for women. Aug. 26
The 19th Amendment to the Consitution, granting women the right to vote, is signed into law by Secretary State Bainbridge Colby. -
Women's Rights 1930's.
The federal law prohibiting the dissemination of contraceptive information through the mail is modified and birth control information is no longer classified as obscene. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, birth control advocates are engaed in numerous legal suits. -
Women's Rights 1940's
World War II opened up many new possibilities for women. It expanded opportunites and better-paying jobs. That means they would no longer be forced into the stereotypical roles as teachers, secretaries, or housewives. -
Women's Rights 1950's
The Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), the first lesbian organization in the United States, is founded. Although DOB originated as a social group, it later developed into a political organization to win basic acceptance for lesbians in the United States. -
Women's Rights 1960's
The National Organization for Women is founded by a group of feminists including Betty Friedan. The largest women's rights group in the U.S., The National Organization for Women seeks to end sexual discrimination, especially in workplace, by means of legislative lobbying, litigation, and public demonstrations. -
Women's Rights 1970's
The Equal Rights Amendment is passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification. Originally drafted by Alice Paul in 1923, the amendment reads: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." -
Women's Rights 1980's
EMILY's List was established as a financial network for pro-choice Democratic women running for national political office. The organization makes a significant impact on the increasing numbers of women elected to Congress. -
Women's Rights 1990's
The Violence Against Women Act tightens federal penalties for sex offenders, funds services for victims of rape and domestic violence, and provides for special training of police officers. -
Women's Rights 2000
In Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education, the Supreme Court rules that Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, also inherently prohibits disciplining someone for complaining about sex-based discrimination. -
Women's Rights 2010
President Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which allows victims (most often women) of pay discrimination to file a complaint with the government against their employer within 180 days of their last paycheck.
