women in history | Grandma's Ramblings

Tomorrow, we celebrate the fourth of July – Independence Day, we call it. We love to quote our Declaration of Independence which declares “all men are equaled equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

I am thankful to be born in America. Having experienced life in a different country, I am grateful for the freedoms, the comforts, the blessings I enjoy as a citizen of this great land.

However, we must admit that this declaration we love was a little hypocritical. First all men were not given the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is hard to know for certain how many slaves were in the USA in 1776, but figures range from 500,000 to close to a million. Native Americans who had called this land home long before the Pilgrims arrived were also not granted these unalienable rights. Finally women were completely left out of the equation. This left only white men. However, many of them were initially not given all the rights of the founding fathers. At first, only men who owed property were allowed to vote.

For women the battle for the right to vote began in earnest in 1848. On July 11, 1848 five women met in Jane Hunt’s home in Waterloo, New York. The youngest member of that meeting was Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She convinced the women to call a “Women’s Rights Convention” to meet at the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Seneca Falls, New York. A few days later Stanton met with some friends to draft a document for the convention to consider. The mahogany table on which this document was written is now in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.

The women adopted Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence to define the program of feminism for the rest of the nineteenth century.

“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of the family of man to assume among the people of the earth a position different from that which they have hitherto occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness….But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled. The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

They then listed facts that they felt hindered women from the rights granted to men. Here are only a few.

He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise.
He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice.
He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead. He has taken from her all right in property. even to the wages she earns.
He has so framed the laws of divorce, as to what shall be the proper causes, and in case of separation, to whom the guardianship of the children shall be given, as to be wholly regardless of the happiness of women, the law, in all cases, going upon a false supposition of the supremacy of man, and giving all power into his hands.
He has monopolized nearly all the profitable employments, and from those she is permitted to follow, she receives but a scanty remuneration. He closes against her all the avenues to wealth and distinction which he considers most honorable to himself. As a teacher of theology, medicine, or law, she is not known.
He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education, all colleges being closed against her.
He allows her in Church, as well as State, but a subordinate position, claiming Apostolic authority for her exclusion from the ministry, and, with some exceptions, from any public participation in the affairs of the Church.
He has created a false public sentiment by giving to the world a different code of morals for men and women, by which moral delinquencies which exclude women from society, are not only tolerated, but deemed of little account in man.
He has usurped the prerogative of Jehovah himself, claiming it as his right to assign for her a sphere of action, when that belongs to her conscience and to her God.
He has endeavored, in every way that he could, to destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life.

(You can read the entire declaration as well as resolutions they made at https://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1826-1850/the-seneca-falls-declaration-1848.php)

On July 19 about 300 people showed up for the convention. When it was seen that some men had also showed up the women updated their rules and agreed to let the men attend. One of the leaders, Lucretia Mott, turned the leadership for the meeting over to her husband giving way to the tradition that women could not lead a meeting where men were present. Stanton’s husband was dismayed when he realized his wife was going to press the issue for women’s right to vote and left the meeting. The black abolitionist, Frederick Douglas, attended and spoke very strongly for the right of women to vote.

After two days of meetings, the declaration with its supporting resolutions was passed. One hundred people – 68 women and 32 men – signed the declaration. When many of the public was outraged over the declaration, some came back and crossed out their name. Charlotte Woodward drove over forty miles with her family for the meeting. She remained strongly supportive of the declaration. The year 1920 was the first presidential election in which the 19th Amendment had passed giving women the right to vote. Charlotte was the only one of the signers of the declaration to still be alive to cast her ballot.

In 1872 Ulysses S. Grant ran against Horace Greeley for the presidency. At this time women could not vote. In spite of this prohibition, Susan B. Anthony and her three sisters attempted to register to vote at a local Rochester barbershop. The election inspectors at first refused to register the women. After Susan quote the 14th Amendment and threatened to sue the inspector if they would not register the women, they consulted a local Rochester lawyer. John Van Voorhis was a suffrage supporter. He adviced the inspectors to register the sisters pointing out that the blame would be on the women if they voted.

On election day Susan led fourteen other women to their assigned polling stations. When challenged, they took an oath that they were qualified to vote. New York State law prohibited refusal to anyone who took such an oath. Federal law prohibited accept a ballot from anyone ineligible to vote. Caught between the two laws, the election inspectors allowed them to vote.

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton started the first national women’s rights organization in 1869. Called the National Women Suffrage Association, they urged women to vote and to file federal lawsuits if they were denied the right to vote. They used part of the 14th Amendment to demand the right to vote.

Part of the Amendment states: “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States.” This Amendment had been added to the constitution to allow rights to newly freed slaves.

After the election warrants were issued for the arrest of Susan B. Anthony, the women who had voted with her, and the officials who had allowed the vote. Anthony had expected to be denied the right to vote and planned to then file a suit in federal court. She was surprised when she was allowed to vote and then arrested.

She used the lawsuit to grow attention to women’s suffrage. She asked, “Am I not a citizen?” After reading the first section of the 14th Amendment, she asked “Are women persons?”

In 1873 Anthony was tried in federal court for voting in a congressional election when she was deemed unqualified to vote. She was sentenced to pay $100 for violating New York State law. She refused to pay and Hunt did not have her jailed for failing to pay. He did not want to give her a chance to appeal to the Supreme Court.

This strategy encouraging women to try to vote and then file a lawsuit if they were denied became useless when the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled “the Constitution of the United States does not confer the right of suffrage upon anyone.”

Women suffragists then began campaigning for a constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote. The House of Representatives passed the 19th Amendment on May 21, 1919. The Senate followed on June 4, 1919. After being submitted to the states for ratification, the Amendment came into effect on August 26, 1920.

The Constitution was adopted in 1787. It stated, “We the people.” However, the “people” it included as full citizens was a small group. Only white men who owned property could vote for many years. It was not 1868 that black men were included in the right to vote. The right for black men to vote that was given in 1868 was soon severely restricted by the many “Jim Crow” laws the South enacted. (But that is for another blog.)

Women, both white and black, had to wait until 1920 – 133 years after the Constitution was adopted.

Women have come a long way politically since 1920. Congress in 2024 has 25 women in the Senate (25%) and 126 in the House (29%). Considering that women make up at least 50% of our population, we clearly have a long way to go to gain equal representation.

My daughter knows how much I love books. She recently brought me four new books from her Book of the Month Club membership.

Knowing how much I love history – and historical fiction – three of the four books are that genre. One is a story of women during the Vietnam War era. ”The Women” by Kristin Hannah gives a view of this period from the eyes of women who served in Vietnam and then returned home to a divided nation. She knows I will love this one for several reasons. Kristin Hannah is one of my favorite authors. After reading one of her books last year, I went to my local library and checked out all her books. Also, the Vietnam area is the time I grew up – my first husband fought in the war as a Marine. I look forward to reading this one soon.

Recently I posted about a new book I was reading about the indigenous people of North America, “Rediscovering American” by Ned Blackhawk. The book she gave me, “Killers of the Flower Moon” by David Grann tells the story of the Osage Indian nation in the 1920’s and the birth of the FBI. I can’t wait to read that one. Recently I saw a movie was made of this book. First I will read the book and then watch the movie. Many times the movie takes liberties with the actual story of the book so I want to read that before I watch the movie.

But the one most appropriate to read in the month of February as we celebrate Black History Month is “Sisters in Arms” by” by Kaia Alderson.

This story is about the first all-black, all-female battalion of the Women’s Army Corps. The 6888th Postal Battalion (the Six Triple Eight) was sent overseas during World War II. Mail sent to U.S. servicemen remain undelivered, stored in air hangers. A shortage of postal workers led to a massive backlog. This battalion was faced with the challenge of clearing this backlogged mail and making sure the servicemen received their letters and packages from home. In order to do this, they kept track of 7 million identification cards with serial numbers to distinguish between soldiers with the same name. The women worked 24/7 with three shifts, eight hours per shift, seven days a week. Their orders said they were to clear all the mail in six months. After accomplishing that goal in three months they moved on to France making sure undelivered mail was sorted and sent on to the servicemen.

It is hard to imagine what these women went through to serve their country. Remember this was in the 1940’s when the Army was just beginning to consider allowing women to serve in the armed forces. As World War II required more and more men to fight on the front lines, the armed forces began accepting women in non-combat position like weather forecasters, nurses and telephone operators. The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was created in May 1942 and converted into an active-duty status as the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in July 1943.

Sexual harassment was common, as were implications that women had traded sexual favors for their military ranks.

For the women of the 6888th, there was an added disadvantage. The Army was segregated. black WACs were in a separate company than white trainees, had separate lodging, dining tables, and even recreation areas. They took basic training in Georgia and local establishments often would refuse to serve them while welcoming the white WACs. In Elizabethtown, Kentucky, a police officer brutally beat three black WACs for sitting in a “white” waiting area.

Thankfully when they arrived in England they received a warm welcome. Venturing into town they found they could enter any establishment they wanted and be served. Local residents invited them into their homes. When the white soldiers were asked by the British citizens why the women had an early curfew, it is said they replied “after midnight they grew tails.”

Coming back from the war they faced continued discrimination because of the color of their skin. In February 1946, the unit was disbanded at Fort Dix, New Jersey. There were no parades, no official recognition of the great service they provided to the servicemen helping to keep up the morale of the men.

Individually, however, many used the GI bill to further their education and achieved success in their civilian life. In November 2018, 75 years after their service ended, a monument was dedicated in their honor. This monument is at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

They received the Meritorious Unit Commendation for Meritorious Service during Military Operations in February 2019. In March 2022 President Biden signed into law legislation passed by Congress awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the black women members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. Sadly, only six members were still alive to receive this recognition.

However, in recent years the battalion’s history has gained more attention and books and documentaries have been written. These brave women led the way for other black women who want to serve in the Armed Forces. In World War II, African Americans accounted for 5.7% of all women in the WAC in 1943, and as of 2020 they accounted for 34.1% of women in the Army.

I have several asked me why I post these articles on Black History. Why do we need a month for Black history – but none for white. Perhaps this article I posted last year will help explain that.

In 1959 Hawaii became our fiftieth state. A statewide referendum in favor of statehood was approved by 93% of Hawaiians. Before then multiple proposals for statehood had been submitted to Congress. Many were skeptical that a territory two thousand miles from the U.S. coast could be a viable state.

Long before Hawaii became a part of the United States, it had been governed by warring chiefs. In 1810 Kamehameha unified the islands into one kingdom. Legends say that there were storms and strange lights on the day of his birth. Hawaiians thought this spoke of a great chief. After several years of battles between different chiefs, Kamehameha won and pronounced himself King Kamehameha.

Celebrated as the strongest Hawaiian ruler, he governed the islands during the period when Europeans began exploration of the islands. He was able to maintain his kingdom’s independence as European and Americans began to arrive at the island and try to take control.

There are four statutes of Kamehameha, three in the islands and one in Washington, D.C. This one stands in front of the old Judiciary Building in Honolulu. On June 11, Kamehameha Day, the statue is draped wreaths of flower lei. This is a public holiday in Hawaii with parades and other celebrations.

As white landowners and businessmen came to the islands, they began introducing American ideas of government. This led to a constitutional monarchy and then to an elected government. While that sounded good, the transfer of the King’s power to an elected legislature was done by the powerful group of white landowners. Voting rights were given only to literate males of Hawaiian, European and American descent and there were income and wealth requirements to be able to vote for the House of Nobles. Power was consolidated among the elite members of the island. Native Hawaiians were left powerless with no say in the government chosen. This document became known as the “Bayonet Constitution” because it had been enacted by intimidation.

The only queen of Hawaii, Queen Liliuokalani, succeeded to the throne in 1891. She introduced a new constitution that restored power to the monarchy and gave back rights to the native Hawaiians. The powerful landowners threatened to overthrow the monarch and create a government that would favor annexation by the United States. When U.S. Marines landed on the islands supposedly to protect American interests, she was forced to resign. The Republic of Hawaii was born, run by Sanford B. Dole.

Dole was born in Hawaii to missionaries and favored westernization of the islands. He was part of the group that wrote the Bayonet Constitution. When Grover Cleveland became president he appointed a congressman from Georgia, James Blount, to investigate the overthrow of the queen. His report stated that the queen had been overthrown illegally. While Blount took the side of the native Hawaiians, it was because he held white supremacist views. He opposed annexation of the islands as it would add new non-whites citizens to the United States.

The Hawaiian Patriotic League organized mass protest rallies against the Republic. The new government arrested many of them and Queen Liliuokalani and charged them with treason. The queen served several months of house arrest. Finally, on January 24, 1895 she abdicated her throne in exchange for the pardon of her and her compatriots.

When President McKinley submitted a treaty of annexation to the U.S. Senate, Queen Liliuokalani and four other Hawaiians, came to Washington D.C. with a Petition Against Annexation. Roughly 55% of the non-white population signed the petition. With this display of opposition to the annexation, the treaty was defeated in the Senate.

When the war with Spain broke out, Hawaii suddenly became important as a mid-Pacific fueling station and naval base to support the action against Spain in the Philippines. On July 4, 1898, a joint resolution to annexed Hawaii passed Congress. Three days later Hawaii became a U.S. territory.

Six decades passed before Hawaii became a state. In 1959 Hawaii’s bid for statehood was combined with Alaska’s bid. Alaska leaned toward the Democratic side and Hawaii leaned Republican. Alask was approved to be the 49th state and Hawaii the 50th.

By this time most Hawaiians now wanted the same rights as other U.S. citizens and 93% of the population voted in favor of statehood.

Since we just saw England celebrate the 70 years of the reign by Queen Elizabeth II, I thought I would share her comments for my Friday list of laughter and wisdom (even though i am a day late.)

Grief is the price we pay for love.
None of us can slow the passage of time; and while we often focus on all that has changed in the intervening years, much remains unchanged, including the Gospel of Christ and his teachings.
When life seems hard, the courageous do not lie down and accept defeat; instead, they are all the more determined to struggle for a better future.
If I wore beige, nobody would know who I am.
It has been women who have breathed gentleness and care into the harsh progress of mankind.
Children teach us all a lesson – just as the Christmas story does – that in the birth of a child, there is a new dawn with endless potential.
We all need to get the balance right between action and reflection. With so many distractions, it is easy to forget to pause and take stock.
Let us not take ourselves too seriously. None of us have a monopoly on wisdom.
Memories are our second chance at happiness.
The world is not the most pleasant place. Eventually your parents leave you and nobody is going to go out of their way to protect you unconditionally. You need to learn to stand up for yourself and what you believe and sometimes, pardon my language, kick some ass.

On a trip to Alabama we were able to stop at the home where Helen Adams Keller was born and raised. Built in 1820 by Helen’s grandparents who came to Alabama from Virginia, the house is a white clapboard home designed in Virginia cottage construction. Called Ivy Green because of the English ivy that grew on one side of the house, the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1954.

Helen was born on June 27, 1880 and was a healthy child. At 19 months she became very ill (it is believed it was probably scarlet fever) and was left blind and deaf. Unable to communicate with the world, Helen became what was described as a “wild child.”

Her parents, desperate for help took her to see Alexander Graham Bell when she was six. Bell connected the family with a 20-year-old teacher from the Perkins Institution for the Blind. Ann Sullivan came to live with Helen in Alabama and stayed with her from March 1887 until Ann died in 1936.

As Anne began working with Helen she recognized that her family had given no discipline to her and she need to teach Helen both obedience and love. She convinced the family to allow her to take Helen from the main house and they lived together alone in a nearby cottage. After a few weeks as Helen began to respond to Anne, they returned to the main house ad the family.

Ann began having Helen feel objects and then would spell out the word on Helen’s palm. At first it was a difficult effort but a breakthrough came when Ann kept running water over Helen’s hand and then writing the word “water” in her palm. Suddenly it was as if a light went on. Helen understood what Ann was trying to teach her.

Having read the story of how her teacher, Ann Sullivan, was able to reach her through sign language, it was so amazing to see the well where this amazing event took place.

As Helen received a way of communicating with others, she quickly showed how brilliant a mind she had. By age ten she had mastered the Braille alphabet and learned to type. She then began the difficult process of learning how to speak. By 16 she had learned how to speak so well that she went to preparatory school and then won admission to Radcliffe College in 1900 and graduated cum laude in 1904.

She became an author and published several books including The Story of My Life (1903), Optimism (1903), The World I Live In (1908), Light in My Darkness and My Religion (1927), Helen Keller’s Journal (1938), and The Open Door (1957).

She became active in promoting laws and policies to help the handicapped. When she attended the Lions Clubs International Convention in 1925 she challenged Lions to become “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.” Accepting the challenge the Lions have programs aimed at preventable blindness every since.

At her home there is a statute of a Lion and plaques commemorating that partnership between Keller and the Lions.

There is a garden on the grounds with a bust of Helen as well as a statute inside the house of the young girl standing at the well where Ann Sullivan was able to reach her with the word “water.”

When you consider she was blind and deaf, her achievements are even more amazing.

She fought for workers’ rights, for women’s suffrage and was an early member of the American Civil Liberties Union. She worked for over 40 years with the American Foundation for the Blind. Her speeches and efforts for the blind led to state commissions for the blind, rehabilitation centers and made education more accessible to those with vision loss.

She made multiple trips to other counties and met world leaders such as Winston Churchill, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Golda Meir. General Douglas MacArthur sent her to Japan as American’s first Goodwill Ambassador. Her appearance brought attention to the needs of Japan’s blind and disabled citizens.

A lot of credit should also go to her teacher, Ann Sullivan, who devoted her life to Helen. Her work with Helen as a child was depicted in the play The Miracle Worker. This play won the Pulitzer Prize in 1960 and was made into a motion picture in 1962.

Before WWII most of society frowned on women working outside the home. Most of the working women were from lower working classes doing menial jobs. With WWII there became a shortage of workers as so many men were in the armed forces plus there was an increased demand for wartime production.

In 1943 Secretary of War Henry Stimson said, “The War Department must fully utilize, immediately and effectively, the largest and potentially the finest single source of labor available today – the vast reserve of woman power.” To encourage employment of women, on April 1, 1943 the U.S. War Department published a pamphlet entitled “You’re Going to Employ Women.”

I found a copy of the pamphlet and I had to laugh at some of the advice given to potential employers of women. Here is just some of the statements in the pamphlet:

Women are pliant – adaptable
Women are dexterous – finger-nimble
Women are accurate – precision workers
Women are good at repetitive tasks
Women are fine color and material observants
Women can be trained to do almost any job you’ve got

Further instructions were:

In some respects women workers are superior to men. Properly hired, properly trained properly handled, new women employees are splendidly efficient workers.

In spite of the government’s propaganda campaigns to employ women, there was still some resistance. Some worried women would become too masculine, would take jobs from men, would upset home life, would have negative effects on children.

Minority women faced even more challenges to working. Black women found it hard to obtain a job. Women from Japanese and Italian backgrounds found widespread prejudices.

One of the main stars of the propaganda campaign was Rosie the Riveter. Rosie was a fictional icon representing women who worked in the WWII munitions and war supplies industries. She was designed to look strong enough to handle the manual labor, yet also feminine enough to reassure men that women working would not lose their feminine appearance. Rosie’s picture was seen in newspapers, magazines, posters, and even music.

Hitler used America women working in his own propaganda campaign noting that the German women’s job was to have babies and be good wives and mothers to the Third Reich.

Women found it difficult to balance work and child care. Eleanor Roosevelt encouraged her husband, President Franklin D Roosevelt, to create childcare facilities. She also encouraged employers to provide childcare facilities for their workers.

Women entering the work force changed much of the fashion for women. High-heels were out. Clothing had fewer adornments. Khaki jackets and blue jeans became popular. Following Rosie’s picture, slacks and headscarves was the fashion thing to wear. Wool and silk were rationed due to the need for military uniforms and parachutes. Manufactured fibers such as rayon and viscose became popular. When nylon was also restricted, women were forced to not wear stockings.

Along with women entering the work force at home, approximately 350,000 women joined the military. They served as nurses, truck drivers, mechanics and clerical workers. Military groups for women organized in WWII were:

Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps – later named the Women’s Army Corps (WAC)
Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services (WAVES)
Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs)

Over 1600 female nurses received military honors and decorations for courage under fire. Women could only serve in the military in times of war until 1948 when Congress allowed women to serve as full-fledged members of all branches of the military.

Many feared after WWII that women in the work force would take jobs needed by the men returning from war. Many women gladly returned back to the home and many were laid off. However, WWII opened the door to women in the work force and this source of labor has only increased since then.

Checking the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, I found that in 2019 57.4 percent of all women participated in the labor force. And, as expected, women still made less than men. According to the Bureau in 2019, women who worked full time in wage and salary jobs had median usual weekly earnings of $821, which represented 82 percent of men’s median weekly earnings ($1,007).

The final page of the pamphlet I found gave me a last laugh:

A woman worker is not a man; in many jobs she is a substitute – like plastics instead of metal – she has special characteristics that lend themselves to new and sometimes superior uses.

After reading that, I had to wonder what superior uses they thought women would bring to the labor force. And I love their statement that a woman worker is not a man – just a substitute. They opened the door for women to be in the work force – and here we are – hardly a substitute.

Hard to believe that it has been less than 100 years since women were granted the right to vote. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on August 18, 1920, granting women the full rights of citizenship.

What is ironic is that four years before women were granted the right to vote, a woman had already been elected to the United States Congress. Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman to serve in Congress. While most of the USA did not allow women to vote until this amendment was ratified, some states had permitted voting by women.

Montana granted women the right to vote in 1914 and they soon elected Rankin to represent them in Congress. Rankin declared “I may be the first woman in Congress, but I won’t be the last.

She was right. Today there are 24 women in the Senate (24%) and 121 (27.8) in the House of Representatives.

While in Congress, Rankin proposed the formation of a Committee on Woman Suffrage, of which she was appointed leader. After WWI ended and her committee had issued a report for a constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote, she asked the congressmen:

“How shall we explain to them the meaning of democracy if the same Congress that voted to make the world safe for democracy refuses to give this small measure of democracy to the women of our country?”

While serving her first term in Congress, she voted, along with 49 men, to not enter World War I. After serving two years in Congress, she did not run to be elected for another term. Some historians believe her vote against the war led her to realize she could not get reelected. Her brother, Wellington Rankin, who was a prominent Republican in Montana, advised her not to run. He said “I knew she couldn’t be elected again if she did vote against the war. I didn’t want to see her destroy herself.” Many of the suffragists leaders felt she betrayed their cause by her vote.

Although she opposed the war, once we entered the battle, she voted for war-time appropriations to fund the troops and supported the government taking over the mines to gain resources for the war effort.

After leaving Congress, she continued to be active working for pacifism and social welfare issues. She worked for better health care for women and children. She became a speaker for the National Council for the Prevention of War and attended the Women’s International Conference for Peace held in Switzerland. She purchased a small farm in Georgia that had no electricity or plumbing and worked with others in the state to organize a study group on antiwar foreign policy. This group eventually became the Georgia Peace Society.

In 1940, at age 60, she returned to her home state of Montana and ran again for Congress. This time she was not alone – there were six other women in Congress.

After America was attacked by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. When the House opened debate on the resolution, Rankin tried to speak. Speaker Sam Rayburn declared her out of order and members of the House began calling for her to be silent. Members pressured her to vote for the war or abstain. She refused to do either. She said “As a woman I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else.” She was the only vote against the war.

After the vote she huddled in a phone booth in the Republican cloak room until security could escort her to her office. She did not run for reelection but she said “I have nothing left but my integrity.”

Leaving Congress, Rankin spent time on her ranch in Montana and her cabin in Georgia. She continued her stand against war leading a 5,000 person protest march on Washingtn in 1968 where she offered a peace petition to House Speaker John McCormack.

The House honored her on her 90th birthday with a reception and dinner. In 1972 she was named the “World’s Outstanding Living Feminist” by the National Organization for Women.

When she died in 1974 she was thinking of running again for the House so she could protest the Vietnam War. Today there is a statute of Rankin in the Montana State House.

Raised on a plantation in the South, these two sisters became strong advocates to abolish slavery. The oldest, Sarah Grimke, accompanied her wealthy father to Philadelphia to seek medical treatment. While there, she met members of the Society of Friends. Returning to Charleston, she eventually became a Quaker and moved to Philadelphia where she became actively involved in the drive to end slavery.

Sarah Grimke (1792-1873) date of image is unknown.
Library of Congress

Her young sister, Angelina Grimke, soon joined her sister in the north and also become active in the cause of freedom for the slaves.

Angelina Grimke Weld (1805-1879) date of image is unknown
.Library of Congress

This move, or course, made them outcasts with their family and former friends. Angelina only added to the South’s outrage when she wrote an Appeal to the Christian Women of the South. In that writing she wrote

I know you do not make the laws, but I also know that you are the wives and mothers, the sisters and daughters of those who do; and if you really suppose you can do nothing to overthrow slavery, you are greatly mistaken.”

While this brought the anger of the Southern population, it also made northern men unhappy. Many of them felt that a woman did not have the right to speak out about issues that were so controversial and political.

The opposition to her expressing her views not only did not stop her from speaking out about slavery, it also caused her and her sister to become outspoken agents for women’s rights.

Joining the American Anti-Slavery Society, the sisters began to speak to small groups of women in private homes and as their popularity grew, they soon moved to making appearances before much larger audiences, often ones that included men. Both sisters wrote on women’s right to equality in society. Angelina published Appeal to the Women of the Nominally Free States and Sarah followed up with Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Women.

Angelina married an abolitionist, Theodore Weld. Since he was not a Quaker the sisters were kicked out of the Society of Friends. The three of them moved to New Jersey and started a boarding school teaching students. When the Civil War broke out, they wrote to President Lincoln giving their support for the freedom of the slaves.

They discovered that their brother Henry had two sons by an enslaved women. They reached out and began a close relationship with the young men and supported their education. One of the men, Archie, studied law at Harvard and the other, Francis, went to Princeton Theological Seminary. Both men became leaders in the black community.

Frances was pastor of the 15th Street Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. This church was founed in 1841 as the First Colored Presbyterian Church. Rev. Grimke served as the third pastor for more than 50 years beginning in 1877. From his pulpit he called for civil rights, fought against racism in American churches, helped found the American Negro Academy in 1897 and was part of the group working to create the NAACP.

Archibald (Archie) Grimké had a distinguished career as a lawyer. He also created the first African-American newspaper, the Hub. He attended the first conference of the NAACP and worked with that organization the rest of his life.

Both women fought for women’s rights and for equal and fair treatment of the blacks after the Civil War. .They were active in the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association leading a protest of women on March 7, 1870 when they illegally voted in an election.

As I read about these women, I was challenged by their willingness to leave a life where they were pampered and waited on to speak out and fight for the rights of blacks. To not be afraid of those who tried to silence them as being less than equal of men. It is sad to me that many who have benefited from their fight do not even know their names.

In 1998 they were both posthumously inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.