Women’s Equality Day is More Than a Day and Takes All of Us
On August 26, the Global Center for Women and Justice (GCWJ) at Vanguard University will host the first event for our campus wide Year of Civility in Vanguard’s Waugh Student Center. It is also Women’s Equality Day, which commemorates the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, granting women the right to vote. Our keynote is Rev. Dr. Jo Anne Lyon, who broke the stained-glass ceiling as the first female Wesleyan General Superintendent and who currently serves as Vice-chair of the National Association of Evangelicals!
The US women’s suffrage movement was launched in the basement of a Wesleyan church in 1848 Seneca Falls with leaders like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass who were also abolitionists. The Declaration of Sentiments was produced at the Convention, proclaiming “all men and women are created equal” and demanding equal rights for women, including the right to vote. Frederick Douglass, a prominent abolitionist, and former slave argued that women’s rights were a natural extension of the abolitionist movement. Douglass’ great-great-grandson, Ken Morris, will join our event as well as Vanguard student leaders as we look at our present through the lessons of our history.
Collaboration between suffragists seeking women’s right to vote and abolitionists seeking the end of slavery was synergistic. The passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865, which abolished slavery, was a victory in civil rights and fueled the women's suffrage movement. Many suffragists, including Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, were active in the abolitionist movement, recognizing the struggle for racial equality linked to gender equality. The 19th Amendment took another 55 years.
Ask any History/Political Science major, history informs the present. As Director of the GCWJ, I often find myself explaining that we are not fighting for women over men. History demonstrates the value of mutuality and collaboration. It is not either/or; it is both/and. What can Vanguard University women and men learn from history? How did the suffragists and abolitionists partner to advocate for the right to vote? They marched. They painted signs and dressed in white. What does collaboration look like in 2024? We take to social media and design memes, no paint involved. And there are challenges with social media? It can can be a minefield or fertile soil. University students write papers, ask questions, and promote change. For example, a student’s research during our 2024 GCWJ Study Abroad in Greece this summer resulted in a refugee ministry receiving additional funding.
How do Vanguard students contribute to the future? Are there parallels to the Anti-Human Trafficking movement and building progress to bridging the wage gap and driving rights initiatives globally? How can we be part of the conversation.
Consider this list of key milestones in women’s economic equality and ask what we might hope to achieve next.
Married Women's Property Acts (mid-19th century): Allowed women to own and control property in their own names, marking a step toward economic independence.
Equal Pay Act of 1963: eliminated wage disparity based on sex, requiring equal pay for equal work, addressing gender-based pay inequality.
Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974: Prohibited discrimination in credit based on gender, marital status, race, or age, empowering women to obtain credit independently. Ask your grandmother if she had her own credit card.
Women’s Equality Day reminds us of these achievements and the ongoing movement for equality for all women and all men. As we commemorate Women’s Equality Day, we celebrate milestones achieved and recognize the work that remains to ensure equality for all.