Did You Celebrate Women's Equality Day, August 26?
an article by Helen Raisz

One of the eight keys of a culture of peace is to work for women’s equality. One inspiring way to work for this goal is to celebrate Women’s Equality Day. In 1971, Congress designated August 26 of each year as Women's Equality Day. This day commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote. Congress created the day at the request of Bella Abzug, one of the strongest leaders that the Women’s Equality Movement has ever had.

If you are planning to celebrate Women’s Equality Day in 2005, you will find an excellent list of resources on the web site of Creative Folk. One resource which deserves special attention is a film entitled "Standing on my Sisters’ Shoulders," an award-winning documentary which details the struggle of the courageous women in the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi for the right to vote and the right to an equal education. Another excellent documentary is "One Woman, One Vote," produced by PBS, documenting the seventy-two years between the first women’s rights convention in 1848 and the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920.

The Equal Rights Amendment was first proposed in 1920, and is still awaiting ratification in 15 states, The ERA Campaign Network is still working for women’s equality, even though this campaign has taken more than eighty-four years already.

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