Celebrate Women’s Equality Day on August 26th

At the behest of Rep. Bella Abzug (D-NY), in 1971 the U.S. Congress designated August 26 as “Women’s Equality Day.”

The date was selected to commemorate the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote. This was the culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women that had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world’s first women’s rights convention, in Seneca Falls, New York.

The observance of Women’s Equality Day not only commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, but also calls attention to women’s continuing efforts toward full equality. Workplaces, libraries, organizations, and public facilities now participate with Women’s Equality Day programs, displays, video showings, or other activities.

How much do you know about the 19th Amendment to the Constitution granting women the right to vote? Take the National Women’s History Project quiz below and test your knowledge. For more information about Women’s Equality Day, visit <http://www.nwhp.org/resource center/equalityday.php>.

1. August 26th is celebrated as Women’s Equality Day to commemorate

a. the work women did during the Second World War

b. the anniversary of women winning the right to vote

c. the flappers of the 1920’s

d. the contemporary women’s rights movement

2. In what year did Congresswoman Bella Abzug introduce legislation to ensure that this important American anniversary would be celebrated?

a. 1992

b. 1984

c. 1971

d. 1965

3. In what year did women in the United States win the right to vote?

a. 1776

b. 1848

c. 1920

d. 1946

4. How many years did it take for women to win the right to vote in the United States?

a. 72 years

b. 120 years

c. 20 years

d. 51 years

5. Women in most of the western states won the right to vote years before the Federal Amendment was secured. This is the 96th anniversary of women in Kansas and Oregon winning the vote. What other state is celebrating the 96th anniversary of women winning the right to vote in their state?

a. New York

b. Florida

c. Maine

d. Arizona

6. What was the name given to the 19th Amendment to the Constitution which guaranteed women’s right to vote in the United States?

a. Abigail Adams Amendment

b. Sojourner Truth Amendment

c. Susan B. Anthony Amendment

d. Gloria Steinem Amendment

7. Women who worked for women’s right to vote were called

a. radical

b. immoral

c. suffragist

d. all of the above

8. The term suffragist is derived from

a. one who suffers

b. a voting tablet in ancient times

c. the Constitution

d. the Bill of Rights

9. How many other countries have already guaranteed women’s right to vote before the campaign was won in the United States?

a. 6

b. 2

c. 1

d. 16

10. What was the first country that granted women the right to vote?

a. Canada

b. Germany

c. New Zealand

d. United Kingdom

Answers:

1. b

2. c

3. c

4. a (from the first Women’s Rights Convention in 1848 to 1920)

5. d

6. c

7. d

8. b

9. d (New Zealand (1893), Australia (1902), Finland (1906), Norway (1913), Denmark (1915), USSR (1917), Canada (1918), Germany (1918), Poland (1918), Austria (1919), Belgium (1919), Great Britain (1919), Ireland (1919), Luxembourg (1919), the Netherlands (1919), Sweden (1919))

10. c (1893)