What Does Women’s Equality Day Really Commemorate? The Answer Goes Beyond 1920

Trace how the women’s movement of the 1970s carried the unfinished work of suffrage from the streets of New York to Congress and the White House.

You might think Women’s Equality Day, which commemorates the 1920 date when many American women gained the constitutional right to vote, is meant to celebrate a job well done and long over. But the history of how August 26 came to be commemorated as Women’s Equality Day is actually a story about the 1970s, the relationship between the grassroots women's movement and the highest echelons of political power, and women's continued fight for a broader and deeper equality beyond suffrage.

Fifty Years After the 19th Amendment

On August 26, 1970, on the 50th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, the Women's Strike for Equality filled the streets of New York City with up to 50,000 marchers—women and men of varying racial, ethnic, political and economic backgrounds—while thousands of others joined in around the country. They demanded equality in the workforce and education, free childcare, and greater reproductive access. At the time, it was the largest women's protest ever seen in the United States. The event called attention to the ongoing issues facing women 50 years after they'd won the right to vote—including the barriers they continued to face in access to colleges and universities, the many careers still closed to them, the unequal pay they received for the work they did, and social and cultural attitudes that reinforced women’s subordinate status to men. Despite some intense negative media coverage, many considered the event a major success and a critical step in the recognition of the broader movement.

A few months after the strike, Bella Abzug of New York won her seat in Congress with the campaign slogan "A woman's place is in the House—the House of Representatives." She introduced a resolution to designate August 26 as Women's Equality Day and sought President Nixon's support.

“Are We Going to Remain a Lost Sex?”

Even before the Women's Strike for Equality, Nixon was under pressure to support equal opportunity for women. At a February 6, 1969, news conference, reporter Vera Glaser of the North American Newspaper Alliance stood to ask a question: "Mr. President, in staffing your administration, you have so far made about 200 high-level Cabinet and other policy position appointments, and of these only three have gone to women. Can you tell us, sir, whether we can expect a more equitable recognition of women's abilities, or are we going to remain a lost sex?"

Surprised by the question, President Nixon claimed not to have realized how few women there were in his administration and promised to “correct that imbalance very promptly.”

To make good on that promise, Nixon's administration brought in Barbara Hackman Franklin to oversee efforts to increase the number of women in the federal government. Remarkably successful, Franklin recruited more than three times as many women as in any previous administration.

In her oral history for We Do Declare: Women's Voices on Independence, Franklin expressed pride in her own role and in that of the President and his wife:

I feel very good about what was done back then. It would never have happened at that time if a President of the United States had not decided it should happen. Because our country wasn't there; there was not consensus on the role of women and there were not that many women in professions. So, I think that that was a huge breakthrough, if I could say that, that I think that president really doesn't get the credit for that, that he should. And I think Pat Nixon had something to do with it too. She was pretty outspoken. She was careful where she spoke about it, but she was outspoken about women's rights and moving women up. And I think she had an impact on her husband.

From Protest to Proclamation

With protesters in the streets, Representative Abzug's resolution in Congress, Franklin in his administration, and his wife in his ear, Nixon released Proclamation 4147 in 1972, naming August 26 as "Women's Rights Day." The proclamation read, in part:

As significant as the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment was, it was not cause for ending women's efforts to achieve their full rights in our society. Rather, it brought an increased awareness of other rights not yet realized. In recent years there have been great strides in extending the protection of the law to the rights of women, and in promoting equal opportunities for women. Today more women than ever before serve in policy-making positions in the executive branch of our Government. ... we still must do more to ensure women every opportunity to make the fullest contribution to our progress as a Nation.

In 1973, Congress approved Representative Abzug's H.J. Res. 52, stating August 26 would be known as “Women's Equality Day.” President Nixon then issued Proclamation 4236, recognizing the day and concluding "much still remains to be done."

So, as we commemorate the attainment of suffrage on this day in 1920, we should also remember the grassroots activists, politicians, and government aides who continued to press for progress in order to make good on suffrage’s promise of a fuller version of women's equality.

Further Reading:

Melanie Gustafson, “Women’s Equality Day,” We’re History, August 26, 2016.

Judy Klemesrud, “It Was a Great Day for Women on the March,” New York Times, August 30, 1970.

Lee Stout, A Matter of Simple Justice: The Untold Story of Barbara Hackman Franklin and A Few Good Women, Pennsylvania State University Libraries, 2012.

Leandra Zarnow, “Five Ways Bella Abzug Opened Up Politics to Women and Fought for Social Change,” American Masters, PBS, March 6, 2026.

Related Reading:

• What Oral Histories Reveal About Women’s Pursuit of Economic Independence
• Women Who Reshaped Financial Power and Economic
• How Activism and International Women’s Year Fueled U.S. Efforts for Equality