It’s been 95 years since the 19th Amendment became a law, giving women the right to vote in 1920.
Fifty years later, Congress designated August 26 as Women’s Equality Day, commemorating the passing of the amendment, and calling to attention the continuing efforts toward full equality.
Obviously you can mark such an important day by making sure you are registered to vote, but we also have a list of some other ways to remember some of our famous female pioneers!
Play a sport!
We weren’t always allowed to! But at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, 22 women (out of 997 total athletes) competed in five sports: tennis, sailing, croquet, equestrianism, and golf – and became the first women to be in the Games!
Do a science experiment
See if you can channel Marie Curie, the French-Polish chemist and physicist who was a pioneer for women in science. She was first woman to receive a shared Nobel Prize in 1903, and an unshared Nobel Prize in 1911. She is the first person and only woman to win twice, and additionally, she was the first female professor at the University of Paris.
Read some Wharton
In 1921, American novelist Edith Wharton became the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction, for her novel The Age of Innocence.
It would take 11,550 laps to equal the 350 miles of the English Channel, which Gertrude Ederle swam across in 1926, becoming the first woman to do so. It took her 14 hours and 31 minutes. Whew!
Check out what’s in the sky
Two females stand out in this category: Amelia Earhart and Dr. Sally Ride. In 1932, Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in approximately 15 hours. Just over 50 years later, Ride became the first American woman to be sent into space aboard the space shuttle Challenger.
Practice a little diplomacy
There are several standout females to imitate in this category, so get ready.
Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister of Britain in 1979, Madeleine Albright, the first female Secretary of State in 1997, and Condoleezza Rice, the first black woman to serve as the United States’ national security adviser, as well as the first black woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State in 2005.
Dish out some justice
Make Sandra Day O’Connor proud. She is the first woman justice to have been appointed to the Supreme Court. She was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, and served until her retirement in 2006.
Show some R-E-S-P-E-C-T to the Queen of Soul! In 1987, Aretha Franklin became the first woman to be inducted to the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame! She has won a total of 18 Grammy Awards, and is one of the best-selling female artists of all time.
There are tons of other great and inspirational female firsts out there! We’ve worked tirelessly over the past century to raise awareness about the importance of female leadership in our world, but there’s still work to be done. For you, this could mean offering mentorship, giving of your time to a bright young female, or volunteering with a youth-serving organization.
It was Sandra Day O’Connor that boldly said:
“Society as a whole benefits immeasurably from a climate in which all persons, regardless of race or gender, may have the opportunity to earn respect, responsibility, advancement and remuneration based on ability.”
We couldn’t agree more.