March is Women’s History Month
March 2, 2021
Celebrate women’s history this month by expanding your knowledge and sharing interesting historical facts. Their strength can be your inspiration!
To honor those valiant suffragists who refused to be silenced, it’s important to remember that only 100 years ago in 1920 women achieved the right to vote.
What many do not remember is that in 1920, suffragists were also facing a deadly virus while fighting for their fair and equal rights. The strength of these women who believed it was their right and their duty to be heard and be represented could not be quashed.
In the following ten years women were represented on local, state and national political committees. Despite this shift, in many cases women were still not welcome in higher education or in wage-earning jobs for quite some time.
In the 1930s the term “women’s work” took a whole new meaning when the Great Depression saw thousands of jobs lost in male dominated fields. While women were paid less, they were able to keep steady jobs and provide for themselves and their families.
With the help of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s lobbying efforts, women found their way into the White House in secretarial positions, and also as the first ever Cabinet position! Cabinet member Frances Perkins in her position of the Secretary of Labor, drafted the Social Security Act, aimed at giving all Americans economic security for life.
While change started small, the first steps towards political and social equality were taken, and there is no limit to how far women will go. In 2021 Kamala Harris made history as the first woman Vice President of the United States!