162nd Anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention for Women's Rights

3 fearless pioneers of the women's rights movement:
Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony,  Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Image from NYPL Digital Gallery

This comes one week late (I was away on vacation last week and it slipped my mind): last Monday, July 19th, was the 162nd anniversary of the Seneca Falls Women's Rights Convention, which was the beginning of the organized drive for women's rights to be recognized by our culture and in law. Here, inspired by the writings of Thomas Jefferson, they drafted the mission statement of the women's rights movement, the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions.

Ernestine Rose
Image from Brandeis University

These women endured public scorn, threats of bodily harm, assaults on their reputation, slander, threats of hellfire and damnation, and more, but continued undaunted in their quest to show the world that women are equal citizens of the world, and share the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities as their male counterparts. Among other things, they fought to protect women's rights to obtain an education and employment, and sovereignty over their own property, minds, and bodies. They and their successors continued the long fight for women's rights, one which continues to this day.