Jill Sherman - 25 Women Who Fought Back

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Those words begin the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed by the members of the United Nations in 1948. But words alone do not make people free and equal.

Throughout history, the fight for justice and equality has been carried on by brave women all over the world. Their stories remind us to use our minds, voices, talents, and resources to fight for freedom and equality for everyone, every day.

The U.S. Constitution does not guarantee equal rights based on gender. Starting in the 1970s and for decades afterward, women fought for a constitutional amendment to guarantee equal rights to all women, but the efforts did not succeed.

Eleanor Roosevelt said her role in drafting the Universal Delcaration of Human Rights was her greatest achievement.

From the suffragists to modern-day feminists, women have fought to end discrimination. Protests that began with just a few women often grew into national movements that could not be overlooked by people in power. These women understood that they were more powerful together. Their marches, conventions, and boycotts changed the nation.

Susan B. Anthony, 1891

The gavel pounded. The verdict came down: guilty. Judge Ward Hunt declared that Susan B. Anthony had committed a crime when she voted in the presidential election. He ordered her to pay a $100 fine.

Anthony did not stand silent when the verdict was read. She objected to laws made by men, under a government of men, interpreted by men and for the benefit of men. She told Judge Hunt, The only chance women have for justice in this country is to violate the law, as I have done, and as I shall continue to do.

In standing up for her right to vote, Anthony was carrying on a family tradition. She grew up in a movement. Temperance sought to limit or end the sale of alcohol.

Anthony worked as a teacher from 1839 to 1849. During that time, she remained involved in the temperance movement. She attended a temperance rally in Albany, New York, in 1852. But because women werent allowed to speak at rallies, she was denied the opportunity to speak. Soon after, Anthony formed the Womans State Temperance Society of New York.

Anthonys experience at the New York rally stayed with her. She came to believe that no one would take women in politics seriously unless they had the right to vote. Anthony teamed up with fellow activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton to form the National Woman Association in 1869.

Anthony had long supported both the abolition of slavery and equal rights for African Americans. After the Civil War, the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave the vote to black men, but not to women of any color. Because of this, Anthony opposed the amendment. She believed that its passage would set back the womens suffrage movement.

Anthony was tireless in her work for womens rights. She started petitions to help women gain the right to own property and to vote. She traveled all around the country giving speeches to persuade people to support womens right to vote.

Anthony never gave up her fight for womens rights, even meeting with President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905 to for a constitutional amendment. Anthony died in 1906 and was buried in Rochester, New York. It would take another 14 years before the 19th Amendment was passed, finally giving women the right to vote. Each year, women honor Anthonys commitment to womens suffrage on Election Day. They visit her grave to leave behind their I Voted stickers.

Eleanor Roosevelt, 1936

When Eleanor Roosevelt disagreed with her husband, she picked up a pen and wrote about it. Not in a diary or a letter left on the kitchen table, but in her newspaper column, seen by millions of Americans. Her husband was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. But that did not stop Eleanor from speaking up when she believed his policies would not serve the American people. Alongside her husband, she used her powerful platform to fight for human rights and human dignity.

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City on October 11, 1884. Her mother and brother died of a bacterial disease called diphtheria when Eleanor was eight. Her father died in a mental institution two years later. Described as the ugly duckling of her family, Eleanor occasionally suffered from periods of depression.

Eleanor married Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1905. Franklin was diagnosed with polio in 1921. Even though polio led to the loss of the use of his legs, Eleanor encouraged him to stay in politics.

As first lady, Eleanor publicly supported the equal treatment of African American citizens. She repeatedly broke tradition by befriending and supporting black people. She arranged for African American singer Marian Anderson to sing at a number of events.

In 1939 Anderson was beginning to be a very popular singer and the crowds that gathered to see her were large. The team that organized Andersons concerts asked the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) to use the Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., as the arena for Andersons next show because it could hold a large number of people. But because the DAR enforced , only white performers were allowed on the stage. Eleanor did not agree with the DARs decision. She arranged for Anderson to sing at the Lincoln Memorial. And she resigned from the DAR over their segregation policy after being a member for six years. Eleanor explained that her resignation was a rejection of segregation.

During World War II, she encouraged women to take up factory jobs and supported the work of black pilots in the military.

During her husbands four terms as president, she used her unique platform to argue for a better life for all human beings.

After Franklin died in 1945, Eleanor continued her work as a public and political figure. She was appointed chairwoman of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. In that position, she worked to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was published in 1948. The declaration was a response to the genocide committed against the Jews by the Nazis in World War II. It set the standards for treating all humans with dignity and has been translated into almost every written language on Earth.

Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the most influential women of the 20th century.

Pauli Murray, 1971

In the early 1900s, the school for African American children in Durham, North Carolina, sat on bare clay. In winter, wind howled through the chinks in its rickety planks. In summer, paint peeled off the building. The school for white children was made of brick. It was surrounded by a green lawn, and children played on swing sets and slides. Growing up in Durham, Anna Pauline (Pauli) Murray felt the painful contrast between the schools. She spent her life fighting against these unequal conditions.