Members of the National Woman's Party prepare to lobby their senators and congressmen to vote for the Equal Rights Amendment, ca. 1923.

Equal Rights Amendment Was Introduced 100 Years Ago — and Still Waits

America’s feminists felt confident when the Equal Rights Amendment was put before Congress 100 years ago this week. For a century, it’s failed to be enacted.
Picketers from National Women's Party

She Asked President Woodrow Wilson For 22 Suffrage "Favors." She Got 21.

Wilson became a great supporter of the 19th Amendment, but only because he worked alongside a woman who spoke his language.
Equal Rights Amendment supporters cheer for the passage of the House ERA Resolution at the Capitol in Richmond, VA
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2021 Could Finally Be the Moment for the Equal Rights Amendment

The turmoil of the coronavirus pandemic could push the amendment across the finish line after a century of work.

The Real Story Behind “Because of Sex”

One of the most powerful phrases in the Civil Rights Act is often viewed as a malicious joke that backfired. But its entrance into law was far more savvy.
Demonstrators march with pro-ERA and LGBT signs.
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Why The Equal Rights Amendment Might Be On The Verge Of A Comeback

The ERA has been dead for 36 years, but now women may have the tools to overcome opposition.
Antiwar march on October 31, 1970. Marchers holding a banner reading "Chicano Power" and "Remember Reuben Salazar."

Mapping American Social Movements

Interactive maps showing the historical geography of influential American social movements since the late 19th century.
Black and white photo of Bessie Beatty
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Woman on a Mission

For pioneering journalist Bessie Beatty, women’s suffrage and the plight of labor were linked inextricably.
Artistic depiction of Suffragettes demonstrating for women's right to vote. At bottom left, a woman with a cap holds an old fashioned megaphone in her hands. At right, three women (in black and white) can be seen talking with one another. One is holding a piece of paper in her hands.

A “Hamilton” for the Suffrage Movement

Shaina Taub’s new musical follows Alice Paul’s tireless quest to win American women the vote.
Yumi Doi, an activist with Group of Fighting Women, at a protest against sexual discrimination, Tokyo, June 1972

A Work in Progress

Two new books on the history of feminism emphasize global grassroots efforts and the influence of American women labor leaders on international agreements.
A woman with a baby
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The Feminist History of “Child Allowances”

The Biden administration’s proposed “child allowances” draw on the feminist thought of Crystal Eastman, who advocated “motherhood endowments” 100 years ago.
Profile portrait of Zitkala-Sa, a Native American woman, with long hair and beaded necklaces

Gertrude Simmons Bonnin (Zitkala-Ša): Advocate for the "Indian Vote"

The story of Indigenous women’s participation in the struggle for women’s suffrage is highly complex, and Zitkala-Ša’s story provides an illuminating example.

What the 19th Amendment Meant for Black Women

It wasn’t a culminating moment, but the start of a new fight to secure voting rights for all Americans.

Protest Delivered the Nineteenth Amendment

The amendment didn't “give” women the right to vote. It wasn’t a gift; it was a hard-won victory achieved after more than seventy years of suffragist agitation.
Black and white photo portrait of a woman wearing un-rimmed glasses and a short brimmed hat with a satin bow on it.

Suffrage in Spanish

Hispanic women and the fight for the 19th Amendment in New Mexico.
Black women hold signs in support of ratifying the ERA in Virginia.
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From Women’s Suffrage to the ERA, a Century-Long Push for Equality

The Equal Rights Amendment sparked debate from its very beginning, even among many of the women who had worked together for suffrage.

How Women Got the Vote Is a Far More Complex Story Than the History Textbooks Reveal

An immersive story about the bold women who helped secure the right to vote is on view at the National Portrait Gallery.

The Forgotten History of Feminismo Americano

Over the first half of the 20th century, the movement galvanized groups throughout the Americas who helped inaugurate what we think of today as global feminism.