place concerning women’s’ rights. Women were gradually allowed to speak in public, something that had been strictly forbidden before. Individual states adopted laws protecting the rights of married women, granting them the right to own property in their own name, keep their own earnings and retain guardianship of their children in case of divorce.The hard struggle for equality continued to address the wide range of issues contained in the Declaration. It took almost 72 years of remarkable women and tremendous obstacles to win that most basic and honorable American civil right-the vote. As victory grew near, the National American Women Suffrage Association regrouped and emerged as the League of Women Voters to help women take their hard earned right seriously and wisely. With the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment (women’s suffrage) in 1920, it was assumed that women were content with their lot; however, the quest for women’s rights would be an ongoing struggle that was only advanced, not satisfied, by the vote. A second wave of activism made a dramatic resurgence in the 1960’s after more than three decades of silence. In 1961 Esther Peterson, the director of the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor felt that the government should take a more active role in addressing discrimination against women. With her encouragement, President John F. Kennedy convened a Commission on the Status of Women, naming Eleanor Roosevelt as its chair. The report issued by that commission in 1963 documented discrimination against women in virtually every area of American life. State and local governments quickly followed suit and established their own commissions for women, to research conditions and recommended changes that could be initiated. (Eisenberg 5) Under President Kennedy, the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963. The act provided that employers must give men and women equal pay for equal work. Soon ...
