Introduction
It has become easier and more common for women and men worldwide to be equal. However, to achieve these positive results, women of the past had to fight for their basic rights and prove that they deserved equality and were never worse than men. Specific events, including the creation of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1890, the foundation of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps in 1942, the organization of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955, and the establishment of the National Organization for Women in 1966, show that females can and have always been able to plan, organize, encourage, and peacefully overcome severe issues while facing violence and barriers.
The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
One might agree that 1890 is one of the most significant in the history of women and their freedoms. Before this year, two organizations tried to achieve similar goals but chose completely different methods and could not agree. Thus, the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) focused on the federal constitutional level. At the same time, the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) considered state-by-state campaigns more effective when ensuring females’ enfranchisement.
In 1890, a meeting in Washington was conducted to finally unite these organizations into the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Initially, the NAWSA was led by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the former leaders of the two primary organizations. At that time, females could not vote, and granting them this right was considered an essential step toward equality. After 1890, the NAWSA became much more influential, operating with more resources at the local, state, and federal levels.
On their path, the association’s participants faced violence, oppression, economic struggles, and other barriers, but their noble goal and focus on several matters related to females’ freedoms empowered them (Chapman Catt & Rogers Shuler, 2020). In their book, Chapman Catt and Rogers Shuler (2020) indicate that the NAWSA has always been unparalleled in its determination and impact. The primary historical significance of the NAWSA was its role in the passage of the 19th Amendment, which provided women with the right to vote, and in supporting U.S. women.
The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC)
The second step for American females was to prove their ability to participate in military operations in roles other than nursing. Therefore, in 1941, a Congresswoman from Massachusetts named Edith Nourse Rogers began a complicated part toward officially including women in the Army and providing them with complete support.
A brochure prepared by a historian named Judith Bellafaire (1993) and supported by the U.S. Army Center of Military History helps analyze the significance of Rogers’s efforts and success. Rogers’s key arguments were the lack of manpower in the military and some earlier examples of females being helpful but deprived of basic benefits, such as protection, financial support, and others.
After a year of the Congresswoman’s determined work and others’ contributions and after the parties reached specific compromises, this initiative became a success. Therefore, on May 14, 1942, the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was created, and about half a year later, 25,000 females enrolled. This was a turning point in the appreciation and acceptance of women, especially in the military.
In her writing, Bellafaire (1993) refers to newspaper columns and other accounts of those times, describing various positive and negative experiences of WAAC’s participants. The WAAC faced challenges, such as oppression from some social groups and the Army (Bellafaire, 1993). In 1942, females in WAAC were not in but with the Army, lacked protection overseas, and received proportionally lower income than men in the military. However, this achievement proves that women must be appreciated and can perform many different roles, even on the battlefield. Moreover, if WAAC had not been created, there would have been no Women ‘s Army Corps. It was established in 1942, and it finally made females equal members of the Army, and this segregation was almost eliminated.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
This event demonstrates how women can become powerful, determined, and furious in the positive sense of this word when they realize they can no longer tolerate inequality, sexism, and racial discrimination. Thus, on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in the city of Montgomery because she refused to give her bus seat to a male (Barnes & Bowles, 2015). Several months before, a high school student named Claudette Colvin experienced the same. These manifestations of segregation and sexism provoked massive social protests, and precisely females played the primary role in their organization and implementation. Women’s objective was to desegregate public transportation in Alabama and other states. It is noticeable that the Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted almost a year later and resulted in the Supreme Court’s ruling about discriminatory practices on public transit being unconstitutional.
It might be engaging and informative to review primary sources to learn how the boycott of the Montgomery bus system was prepared and whether its participants encountered any challenges. For example, there is a memoir book written by Gibson Robinson (1989), who personally participated in producing and distributing leaflets. In her writing, the author mentions some reactions of some white citizens and males. Thus, “despite white officials’ calls for white solidarity in fighting it, many whites saw the justice of the Negroes’ demands for better treatment on the transportation lines and wholeheartedly supported the boycott” (Gibson Robinson, 1989, p. 101).
Thankfully, despite many barriers and a severe attitude from the authorities, many whites helped females obtain their rights, and the boycott was quite successful. It demonstrated not only women’s power and organizing skills but also their ability and will to keep their fight peaceful and nonviolent yet effective.
The National Organization for Women (NOW)
After achieving voting rights, eliminating bus segregation, and joining the military, females of the past decided to secure their operations and impact at the national level. Thus, in 1966, a group of females and males from Washington, D.C., created the National Organization for Women.
At those times, sex discrimination was still a severe social issue, and it was quite significant that many men took an active role in supporting equality. Some purposes of NOW were to promote feminism, inclusion, females’ rights, and other matters, such as reproductive freedom and the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons (Barnes & Bowles, 2015). In its original statement, NOW (1966) says that “the time has come to confront, with concrete action, the conditions that now prevent women from enjoying the equality of opportunity and freedom of choice” (p. 1).
Although NOW’s leaders and participants faced many challenges, such as financial struggles and oppression, they had a major accomplishment, such as becoming the first national organization to promote abortion legalization. NOW is legal and considered one of the most influential and powerful in the U.S.
Conclusion
To conclude, the four events mentioned can be important significators of women’s strength, freedom, and determination. Starting with the creation of the NAWSA, which ultimately contributed to the passage of the 19th Amendment, and moving on to entering the armed forces and reducing segregation, females created a powerful national organization in 1966. Women used only peaceful and smart strategies to achieve great results and overcome various barriers. Their determination and sincerity in pursuing freedom inspired many males to help females achieve equality.
References
Barnes, L. D., & Bowles, M. D. (2015). The American story: Perspectives and encounters from 1877. Bridgepoint Education.
Bellafaire, J. (1993). The Women’s Army Corps: A commemoration of World War II service. U.S. Army Center of Military History.
Brice, A. (2020). The Montgomery bus boycott and the women who made it possible. Berkeley News. Web.
Bryn Mawr College Library Special Collections. (n.d.). The National American Woman Suffrage Association. Web.
Chapman Catt, C., & Rogers Shuler, N. (2020). Woman suffrage and politics. Courier Dover Publications.
Courtesy of U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center. (n.d.). Creation of the women’s army corps. Women in the Army. Web.
Gibson Robinson, J. A. (1989). The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It: The Memoir of Jo Ann Gibson Robinson. The University of Tennessee Press.
Harvard Radcliff Institute. (n.d.). Records of the national organization for women. Web.
The National Organization for Women [NOW]. (1966). Statement of purpose [PDF document]. Web.